Bob Brolly

Last updated

Bob Brolly

MBE
Born
Robert Joseph Brolly

Derry, Northern Ireland
StyleBroadcaster, singer, entertainer
Website http://www.bobbrolly.co.uk/home.html

Robert Joseph "Bob" Brolly MBE (born 4 October) is a Northern Ireland-born broadcaster, singer and entertainer, and long established personality in the West Midlands region. He presented a long-running programmes on BBC CWR and BBC Radio WM for several years, where he is probably best known for a weekly Irish music show aired on Sunday afternoons. After leaving the BBC in August 2023, Brolly began presenting his Irish music show on BRMB in Birmingham from October.

Contents

Life and career in broadcasting

Born in Derry, Brolly moved with his family to England when he was fifteen, and settled in Coventry. After training as an engineer, he worked in the automotive industry for several years, at Morris Motors, before holding a number of other jobs that included being chief beer taster for Bass Brewery. [1] [2] His radio career has seen him present a long-running afternoon programme on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, which aired for twelve years until 2013, as well as his Irish music show, which was first broadcast in the mid-1990s. [2] [3] In 2015, he also became the host of Brolly and Friends, a chat show airing on Irish TV, a channel aimed at the Irish diaspora. [4]

On 27 August 2023, Brolly presented what turned out to be his final Sunday afternoon show for BBC Local Radio in the West Midlands. During the programme he voiced his anger at being asked to "audition" to continue presenting with the BBC. Within days he was informed by bosses that he had been taken off air. He was subsequently contacted by Birmingham-based BRMB, which had recently been relaunched, with a job offer and made his debut on the station on Sunday 1 October presenting Bob Brolly's Irish Show on Sunday afternoons. [5]

Music career

Brolly first began singing as a boy, as a member of the Waterside Chapel choir in Derry, but did not become a professional musician until much later in life, and when his family entered the pub trade. With his band, Calvary (in which he was both lead singer and drummer), Brolly embarked on tours of Europe, the United States and Australia. He has also enjoyed a successful solo career, appearing at venues including the Wembley Arena in London, and the National Indoor Arena and Symphony Hall in Birmingham. [1] He has released several albums, many featuring covers of popular songs. His 2012 album, Till We Meet Again is a collection of mostly original material. [6]

Philanthropy

In 1994, and along with fellow broadcaster Stuart Linnell and the Coventry Telegraph , Brolly founded the Snowball charity to raise funds for good causes. This was followed in 1998 by the first Bob Brolly and Friends annual fundraising campaign. Brolly hosted his first charity fundraising ball in 1999, in aid of the Omagh Victim Support Fund and Leukemia Research, and featuring Irish artists and personalities such as Brendan Shine, Foster and Allen, Barry McGuigan and Majella O'Donnell. [7] Brolly was awarded the MBE in the 2003 New Year Honours for his services to charity and broadcasting. [8] He is also a past winner of the Irish World Radio Presenter of the Year Award, and the Irish Post Media Person of the Year Award. [1] [2]

In November 2005 Brolly was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack. At the time he described the experience as like being "hit in the chest with a baseball bat". [2] He subsequently gave his backing to the Derek Higgs Start a Heart Appeal, an appeal named in honour of former Coventry City F.C. director Derek Higgs (who died from a heart attack in 2008), and which sought to raise funds for fifty defibrillators that would be placed at locations around Coventry. [9] He is also a patron for the Zoe's Place Baby Hospice in Coventry.

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC CWR</span> Radio station in Coventry, England

BBC CWR is the BBC's local radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire</span> Radio station in Birmingham, United Kingdom

Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Coventry and Warwickshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire</span> Radio station in Birmingham

Free Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Radio Birmingham</span> Radio station in Birmingham, United Kingdom

Free Radio Birmingham is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Birmingham and the West Midlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Ross</span> British radio DJ

Les Ross MBE is a British disc jockey in the West Midlands.

Margherita Taylor is an English TV and radio presenter. She is a freelancer with Global Group and currently presents on stations Smooth Radio and Classic FM.

Sally Jones is a British journalist, television news and sports presenter. She is three-times a world champion at real tennis; once in the singles and twice in the doubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Brolly</span> Gaelic footballer and football analyst

Joe Brolly, born Padraig Joseph Brolly, is an Irish Gaelic football analyst, former player and barrister who played at senior level for the Derry county team.

Edwin Myer Doolan MBE was an Australian born naturalised British radio presenter who was a veteran of Birmingham's first commercial radio station BRMB, and subsequently the BBC. At the BBC he presented a weekly show trawling through his broadcast archives from noon until 1 pm on BBC WM on Sunday lunchtime. He was honoured by the British Radio Academy, earning a place in the Radio Hall of Fame. He was presented with Honorary Doctorates from Birmingham's three universities and was the first person to have ever achieved that honour.

Malcolm George Boyden is a double Sony Award-winning BBC local radio presenter, who formerly presented the Mid-morning show as well as a Sunday show on BBC Hereford and Worcester. He won a Sony gold award in 1997 for 'Radio Personality of the Year', and followed that up in 2001 when he took a bronze award in the 'Broadcaster of the Year' category.

BRMB is a British radio station based in Aston, Birmingham, which is owned and operated by Murfin Music International. It broadcasts on 89.1FM in Aston and surrounding areas, on DAB throughout Birmingham, and online via the station's website and mobile apps.

Xtra AM was an Independent Local Radio station which was on the air between 1989 and 1998. It was broadcast to much of Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire and was the 'oldies' station which took over the mediumwave frequencies of both BRMB and Mercia FM. The programming came from the BRMB studios in Aston, Birmingham, and the signal was relayed from the Langley Mill transmitter (Birmingham) and Shilton (Coventry). The Coventry station was acquired in 1993 by GWR Group and replaced by Classic Gold, while the Birmingham station continued until 1998 when it was replaced by Capital Gold.

Stuart Linnell MBE BAHons HonMA is a semi-retired UK radio and television broadcaster, particularly well known in Coventry and Warwickshire, and in Northamptonshire. He is Chair of Healthwatch Coventry, and Chair of Coventry Community Digital Radio.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2009.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2007.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Torrington</span> British DJ (born 1960)

Graham Torrington is a British radio presenter and broadcaster.

Elliott Webb is an English radio presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Radio (network)</span> British regional radio network

Free Radio is a regional group of Independent Local Radio stations in the West Midlands, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network.

Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the West Midlands. The station forms part of Greatest Hits Radio Midlands.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bob Brolly – Award-winning BBC radio personality and entertainer". Bobbrolly.co.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Young, Graham (11 November 2005). "BBC star Brolly on mend in hospital". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Gibbons, Duncan (15 February 2013). "BBC Coventry and Warwickshire DJ Bob Brolly to leave daily show". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "BBC radio favourite launches Birmingham television role". The Irish Post. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Audley, Fiona (26 September 2023). "Irish radio presenter Bob Brolly gets new show after 'sad' exit from BBC". The Irish Post. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Chambers, Pete (9 August 2012). "Backbeat: Bob Brolly's new CD". Coventry Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "The reason why Bob's got so many friends". Coventry Telegraph. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "New Year Honours". The Guardian. 30 December 2002. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Bob Brolly backs campaign to put defibrillators around Coventry". Coventry Telegraph. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.