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Radio 2 star and PopMaster creator Phil Swern has died aged 76 after suffering with a ‘long illness’.
Many of his celebrity pals including Tony Blackburn and Ken Bruce were the first to pay tribute to their ‘great friend’ after hearing of his shock death.
Sharing his devastation on X, Ken wrote: ‘It’s the saddest of days as my great friend Phil Swern has passed away.
‘Phil was a brilliantly inventive man with a passion for music. He had a vast career as a record and radio producer, deviser of tv formats and as the guiding light and co-creator of Popmaster.
‘He was a one-man fount of all pop knowledge, starting his record collection as a boy and still displaying the same enthusiasm into his seventies.
Radio 2 star and PopMaster creator Phil Swern has died aged 76 (pictured in 2020)
Phil passed away suddenly after suffering with a ‘long illness’, Tony revealed
‘Without him, there would be no Popmaster, on radio or tv. He leaves a giant gap in my life and in the lives of so many.’
Tony also penned: ‘I am very sad to say that my dear friend of over 60 years and producer of @BBCRadio2 Sound of the Sixties passed away yesterday afternoon after a long illness.
‘I am so glad I saw him and his wife Lynsey last Friday. Phil, the Collector, Swern will be missed by us all.’
PopMaster’s official X account announced the news to fans on Sunday morning with an emotional tribute.
It read: ‘Sadly today, we said goodbye to Phil Swern, the Collector for many years the driving force behind Popmaster’s content.
‘His wife Lyndsey was at his side. His favourite song was Nat King Coles, What a Wonderful World. We will miss our gentle man.’
In his early career, Phil produced Pick Of The Pops on Radio 1 in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
After its stint on Radio 1, Phil steered the programme on Radio 2 from 1997 until 2023.
His wide-spread successful career has also seen him produce Sound Of The 60s for 17 years.
Many of his celebrity pals including Tony Blackburn (R) and Ken Bruce (L) were the first to pay tribute to their ‘great friend’ after hearing of his shock death
Ken shared his devastation of Phil’s passing and shared a heartfelt message on X
Tony followed Ken’s emotional message
PopMaster’s official X account announced the news to fans on Sunday morning with an emotional tribute
Beyond Phil’s career at the BBC, he fronted Capital Radio’s Sunday afternoon quiz show You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet.
He was also part of the launch at Capital Gold.
Before his death, Phil appeared on Boom Radio on Bank Holiday monday last week, showcasing his vast record collection.
He said: ‘I don’t know if it’s the biggest collection in the world, it’s hard to say as there are so many collectors out there, but it is probably one of the biggest collections in Europe.
‘I remember the last record I needed was Diana Decker’s Poppa Piccolino. I eventually found it at a car-boot fair that my parents had dragged me along to.
‘There was a man with a box of records that I flipped through and there it was – it was amazing. He wanted 90p for it and I offered him 50. I would have paid £90 if he’d asked me.’