'Live Aid' presenter Andy Kershaw passes away at 66

Andy Kershaw, an ex-BBC Radio 1 DJ and Live Aid presenter, has passed away aged 66 after a cancer battle.

On Friday afternoon his family announced that the broadcaster died on Thursday evening. 

It was reported in January that Kershaw had been diagnosed with cancer in his spine rendering him unable to walk.

Kershaw had spent almost 30 years at the BBC with his Radio 1 show being his most famous which lasted between 1985 and 2000. 

He started his career as host of the rock music show Old Grey Whistle Test and later co-presented the corporation's television coverage of Live Aid.

The Rochdale-born DJ joined Radio 1 as a replacement to John Peel and emerged as the one with an eclectic musical taste. 

He also went around the globe to report on conflicts representing BBC such as the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and reporting in Sierra Leone in 2001. 

The radio diaries that he made in North Korea were one of the earliest shows to be recorded in the country.

Moreover, Kershaw was awarded several Sony Radio Academy Awards during his career.

He is survived by his elder sister, fellow DJ Liz Kershaw, and two children, Sonny and Dolly, from a 17 year affair with Juliette Banner. 

In recent years, Kershaw had an affair with financial expert Catherine Turner.