Farewell to a special Worth visitor

We were very sad to hear the news of the death of Radio 1 DJ Annie Nightingale last week, particularly as she had played such a key part in Worth’s history. Back in 1976 the School was honoured to host Annie when she came to judge that year’s house music competition. Fr Philip Gaisford remembers that this was organised by Fr Anthony Porterfield who had met Annie in his career as a professional singer before he joined the Monastery. Nick Hiley B'79 recalls how brilliantly enthusiastic she was and that they were all 'completely star struck'.

The winning performance that evening was Chapman House's version of the Elton John classic, Crocodile Rock and in 2021 Annie was the special guest on Radio 4’s Saturday Live and Michael Bernard C’77 contacted the show to remind her of her visit. Michael recalls, “We played a version of Crocodile Rock and Annie was kind enough to say she thought Elton John would be proud and that if somebody had a recording she would play it on her show, which she did, the following weekend, much to our delight and eternal gratitude”. Michael added, “I’m still playing guitar in cover bands on the strength of being able to claim (more or less truthfully) to have been on Radio 1”.

Remarkably, Annie Nightingale remembered her visit to Worth ‘incredibly well’ and went on to say that it was one of the joys of her broadcasting career to be able to make somebody’s fantasy come true.

Keron Steele C'76 who played bass guitar in the band that night went on to a career as a sound engineer and worked with Annie on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test. Keron said, "It's hard to believe that she was still broadcasting just a few months ago (aged 83)... what an incredible lifetime contribution".

Rest in peace Annie Nightingale; 1 April 1940 – 11 January 2024