View source for Les Ross

{{Short description|British radio DJ (born 1949)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{BLP sources|date=September 2008}}
{{tone|date=March 2014}}
}}
{{Infobox presenter|image=Les Ross 2011 edited-3.jpg|caption=Ross in 2011|name=Les Ross<br><small>[[Order of the British Empire|MBE]]</small>|birth_date=|birth_place=[[Birmingham]], UK|show=[[Boom Radio]]|station=Previously [[BBC Radio WM]], [[BBC Radio Tees]], [[BRMB]]|timeslot=|show2=|station2=|timeslot2=|style=Radio presenter|country=[[Mass media in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]|prevshow=|website=|birth_name=}}

'''Leslie Ross''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] ([[né]] '''Meakin'''; born 7 February 1949) is a British [[disc jockey]] in the [[West Midlands region|West Midlands]]. He currently presents a radio programme on [[BRMB]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Birmingham]], Ross wanted to be a [[Disc jockey|DJ]] writing to the general manager of [[Radio Luxembourg (English)|Radio Luxembourg]] at age 11.

He attended [[King Edward VI Aston]] School in [[Aston]], [[Birmingham]] and left with 10 [[GCE O Level|O Level]]s. His first job after school was at [[IBM]], but he left after one year. His next job was as a clerk at Witton Cemetery.<ref name=Post02Apr09/>

At age 17, Ross won a DJ competition run by the [[Birmingham Evening Mail]], beating [[Johnnie Walker (DJ)|Johnnie Walker]], who came in second.<ref name=Post02Apr09/> Part of his prize was to appear at Radio Luxembourg for an audition, but this never happened. He was offered his first gig at the Mecca Ballroom in Birmingham before moving on to the Birmingham Roller-skating Rink.

==Career==
===BBC Radio WM===
The break he was waiting for came in 1970 when he joined BBC Radio Birmingham (which became [[BBC Radio WM]] in 1980), presenting a 90-minute Saturday morning show with John Henry called "The Ross and Henry Show". It was one of the first "zoo-radio" formats – involving a studio audience and interactive elements, competitions and phone-in requests that were presented by Fiona MacDonald.

The breakfast show, entitled "On the Move", was unique at the BBC at the time, due to its early 5am start time. The BBC national networks did not start broadcasting until 6am, making Ross the only presenter on the air in the UK during that hour. The Radio Birmingham transmitter at 5.5&nbsp;kW was the most powerful local radio transmitter in the country located at Sutton Coldfield. Ross enjoyed an audience of shift workers around the UK and occasionally even overseas.

===Radio Tees and BRMB===
In 1974, Ross's initial application to [[BRMB]] was rejected and he subsequently joined [[TFM (radio station)|Radio Tees]] in the Northeast of England presenting their breakfast show in the summer of 1975. Ross also presented a successful Saturday morning music show which used the talents of the station's record librarian [[Wincey Willis]] as co-presenter. In March 1976, he returned to Birmingham and joined BRMB, taking over the breakfast show from [[Adrian Juste]], who had left to join [[BBC Radio 1]].

Ross won many awards, including 'Independent Radio Personality of the Year Award' in 1986, and in 1997 he received a [[Radio Academy|Sony Award]] for an outstanding contribution to radio. He was appointed [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[1996 Birthday Honours]] for services to radio broadcasting.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54427 |date=14 June 1996 |pages=23 }}</ref>

===Revolver===
Ross also co-hosted [[Revolver (TV series)|Revolver]], a British music series made by ATV in Birmingham that ran for eight episodes on the ITV network in 1978, alongside [[Peter Cook]]. The late-night show, filmed with a live audience, was set in a seedy ballroom-turned-rock venue. In his role of assistant manager, Les Ross ran a hamburger stand while offering rock trivia gems and introducing the support bands each week.

===Xtra AM and return to BRMB===
With the launch of sister station [[Xtra AM]] in 1989, Ross moved on to present there for four years. In August 1993, Ross returned to BRMB to host Breakfast show, where he had female co-presenters by his side during this period, including Suzi Becker and Tammy Gooding. After 26 years of broadcasting, on Friday 27 September 2002, Ross presented his final BRMB Breakfast show, live from [[Birmingham International railway station|Birmingham International station]]. As 9 o'clock approached, he boarded a [[Virgin Trains West Coast]] train hauled by [[British Rail Class 86|electric locomotive no. 86259]] especially named 'Les Ross' to mark the end of his BRMB radio career.

[[File:Les Ross onboard "Les Ross".jpg|thumb|right|Les Ross looking out of the rear cab onboard his namesake locomotive [[British Rail Class 86|no 86259 "Les Ross"]]]]
He later purchased and preserved this locomotive in operational condition following its retirement from regular passenger service. Locomotive 86259 has been returned to mainline use and sees use on various rail tours, painted in its original 1960s [[British Rail]] electric blue livery.<ref>Main line comebacks for 86101 and 86259 ''[[Today's Railways UK]]'' issue 63 March 2007 page 78</ref><ref>Electric blue 86 returns to work ''[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]]'' issue 678 7 September 2011 page 9</ref>

===Saga 105.7===
[[File:86259 Departing Preston for London.jpg|thumb|right|[[British Rail Class 86|BR Class 86]] no 86259 "Les Ross" departing Preston with her owner Les Ross on board in her rear cab.]]

On Monday 6 January 2003, Ross took over from [[David Hamilton (broadcasting)|David Hamilton]], on Birmingham's [[Saga 105.7 FM]] breakfast show. However, in December 2004, he quit the station as he claimed the station management was guilty of sending "nannying" e-mails which were turning him into a "robo-jock" and was apparently barred from drinking coffee during his early show.<ref name=Post02Apr09>{{cite news|url= http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/postfeatures/2009/04/02/les-ross-ready-to-hang-up-his-headphones-65233-23292163/|title= Les Ross ready to hang up his headphones|work= Birmingham Post|first= Graham|last= Young|date= 2 April 2009|accessdate= 31 December 2009}}</ref>

He announced his departure, planned for Christmas Eve 2004, after he was only offered a one-year contract, below half-pay, despite doubling the show's ratings in recent audience research figures. Ross stated "How much would I have had to put the ratings up by just to get the same deal as I was on before? If I had been happy and felt that I had support, I might have stayed for half the money. But I wasn't happy, and I feel that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." His departure came before Christmas Eve, as station bosses decided to take action when Ross spoke to the local press about what had happened.

===Back to the BBC Radio===
[[BBC Radio WM]] re-hired Ross to present a weekly show on Sundays from 9{{nbsp}}am to midday. On Sunday 6 February 2005, Ross presented his first weekly show on [[BBC Radio WM]]. He would also cover for various holidaying presenters on the station including [[Adrian Goldberg]], [[Ed Doolan]] and Danny Kelly, which Ross would later take over the afternoon show permanently.

In addition to his Sunday morning show, on Saturday 23 July 2005, Ross also took over the Saturday Breakfast show from 6 to 9{{nbsp}}am.

===Back on daily===
Ross took over the Monday to Friday 1 to 4{{nbsp}}pm slot from Danny Kelly on WM on Tuesday 10 April 2007.

BBC WM's managing editor, Keith Beech, said: "Les Ross is one of the best-loved and most popular presenters there is. I'm excited about the prospect of hearing him every day here on BBC WM."

In early 2009, the show went out from 2 to 4{{nbsp}}pm on weekdays and has since left the station just after his 60th Birthday.

On 7 December 2009, Les Ross returned to the airwaves when he became the presenter of the Big City Breakfast Show on Birmingham's [[Big City Radio]] 89.1.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2009/12/07/legendary-dj-les-ross-mbe-comes-out-of-retirement-for-third-time-97319-25337804/ |title=Legendary DJ Les Ross MBE comes out of retirement for third time |work=Birmingham Mail|first=Graham |last=Young |date=7 December 2009 |accessdate=31 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923180134/http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2009/12/07/legendary-dj-les-ross-mbe-comes-out-of-retirement-for-third-time-97319-25337804/ |archivedate=23 September 2012 }}</ref> He hosted his final show for the station on Friday 26 March 2010. He returned to the station on 10 February 2013 to front a Sunday afternoon show.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://radiotoday.co.uk/2013/02/les-ross-returns-to-radio-in-birmingham/ |title=Les Ross returns to radio in Birmingham |publisher=Radio Today |date=12 February 2013 |accessdate=12 February 2013}}</ref>

In April 2015, Les Ross started broadcasting on Wolverhampton's 101.8 WCRFM: www.wcrfm.com. He currently presents a two-hour weekly Sixties show at Sunday lunchtime.

===Boom Radio and WCR FM===
In February 2021, a new, national station called [[Boom Radio]] was launched on DAB and online, catering to the 'boomer generation'. He originally hosted a Sunday morning show from 10am-12noon. He currently presents a show on Sunday afternoons between 4 and 6pm. Les also presents a Sixties show on WCR FM in Wolverhampton on Sundays 12-2pm.

In June 2023, Ross announced that he had been diagnosed with [[prostate cancer]] two years before, in July 2021. After a five-hour operation to have his prostate removed, in September 2021, he is now clear of the disease.<ref>[https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/veteran-bbc-radio-presenter-reveals-he-has-prostate-cancer/ar-AA1d7WHP Veteran BBC Radio presenter Les Ross reveals he has prostate cancer]</ref>

===Return to BRMB===
In August 2024, it was announced that Ross would return to BRMB, which had been relaunched in 2023, to present his weekday breakfast show, ''Les Ross in the Morning'', from late September. He was also heard on BRMB on 4 September to celebrate the first anniversary of its relaunch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radiotoday.co.uk/2024/08/les-ross-in-the-morning-to-make-a-return-to-brmb/ |title=Les Ross in the Morning to make a return to BRMB |date=31 August 2024 |accessdate=31 August 2024 |publisher=Radio Today}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2008/sep/23/radio Link to Guardian piece on the Hardeep Singh Kohli interview, including sound clip]
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Les}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:People educated at King Edward VI Aston School]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British radio DJs]]
[[Category:British radio personalities]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]