In 1984, David Rodigan joined BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Corp), where he broadcast his weekly reggae show for 25 years until 2009.
In 199,0 he joined the newly legalised Kiss 10,0 where he presented a variety of daytime shows for 10 years, followed by a decade in his evening specialist slot. When his show was pushed back to the small hours in a programming reshuffle, David took a bold stance, protesting against the marginalisation of reggae music before leaving the station in a dramatic media frenzy in 2012.
A day later, the BBC came calling and signed David.
For the last 3 years he has remarkably straddled two different worlds, broadcasting every Sunday evening on BBC 1Xtra to a largely youthful audience, whilst hosting his Summer Series on BBC Radio 2 on Tuesdays.
David Rodigan | Award Winning Music Expert
In 2006, he was inducted into the Sony Radio Academy Hall of Fame. He also won the Sony Radio Academy Gold Award for ‘Best Specialist Music Programme’ in 2009 for his Sunday night Kiss Show ‘Rodigan’s Reggae’ and a Silver Award in 2014 for his Radio 2 Summer Series.
He plays his unique collection of customised dub plates and classic recordings extensively across the globe, from New York to Tokyo, Berlin to Kingston, Jamaica, to loyal reggae fans of all ages.
David Rodigan | MBE for Music Broadcasting
2012 was a truly vintage year for David. In January he was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting, in April he took home the World Cup Clash title in Queens NYC, and in May he was awarded his forth Sony Gold Award for his superb 13 part series on BBC Radio 2. 2012 also saw the launch of his ‘Ram Jam’ events brand, with David hosting numerous festival tents across Europe.
2014 saw David Rodigan join forces with platinum-selling act Chase & Status and the legendary Shy FX, under the collective name Rebel Sound, competing in the Red Bull Music Culture Clash at Earls Court in front of 25,000 fans plus another 2million streaming the event from the comfort of their own homes. Rebel Sound won the clash comprehensively and trended #1 on Twitter worldwide and were quickly invited to headline Reading & Leeds festival in 2015.
Since then David has continued his relentless touring schedule across the globe, headlining stages at festivals including Parklife, Glastonbury, Bestival, Outlook and Snowbombing whilst juggling two radio shows on BBC 1Xtra and BBC Radio 2.
David Rodigan | Amazon Bestseller
2017 saw the release of David’s critically and commercially acclaimed autobiography ‘Rodigan My Life In Reggae’ which became a #1 Amazon Best Seller and was nominated for Rough Trade Book Of The Year.
2018 saw David celebrate his 40th Anniversary in the music business. A remarkable achievement marked by a global world tour and a unique project involving the Outlook Orchestra. David, together with the 25-piece, sold out the Royal Festival Hall in a staggering 25 minutes, and summer 2018 saw David and the Outlook Orchestra perform on main stages across the festival season.
David Rodigan doesn’t stop. And he doesn’t want to either. A true legend and British music icon.
