STEVE WRIGHT’S son has vowed to build on the BBC legend’s legacy with “kindness and love” — after flying 5,000 miles to care for him just days before he died.
Ex-club promoter Tom Wright had been living in Los Angeles but returned to Britain to look after the radio host before his passing aged 69 on Monday.
Describing the bond he had developed with his father — who was set to receive his MBE for services to radio in the coming weeks — Tom said: “It meant the world to me that I was able to get to know my Dad in a way I never had in the months before he died.
“I will cherish every moment we shared and every memory we made.
“I only hope to make him proud and build on his legacy with kindness and love.”
He added: “This made every struggle worthwhile to have had this time with him before we lost him.”
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And in an emotional tribute, he said: “God rest your soul Dad.”
Tom, who has the middle name Steven in a nod to his famous father, also told how he lost his mum, the DJ’s ex-wife Cyndi, in the pandemic.
‘He shut down, he stopped going out’
The 38-year-old had moved abroad several years ago after a stint on the London party circuit.
Just two days before Steve died, Tom posted that he had returned to the UK to spend a week with his dad before he received his MBE, which was awarded in the New Year’s Honours list.
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Tom — who describes himself as a digital creator and is planning to release podcast RockNRollRecovery — told a friend: “Just got back to old Blighty and am staying in Londinium for about a week to look after Dad for a bit before his MBE thing up at the palace in a couple weeks as mental as that may be.”
Politics graduate Tom had even arranged a “catch-up” dinner for his father and pals at the DJ’s favourite restaurant, the RAC Club, in London’s Pall Mall.
But fans were devastated to learn that Steve, who was loved by generations of music lovers, had been found dead at his £2million London home on Monday after paramedics were called over an “incident”.
Police later confirmed the death was “unexpected” but not “suspicious”.
Following the tragedy, Tom revealed he hopes he can one day seek solace in recordings of his father’s radio broadcasts.
Thank you everyone for the kindest words and most loving tributes one could ever hope for. Dad would have loved and hated it in equal measure!
Son Tom
He wrote: “It’s not like I don’t have a few shows to be working through whenever I miss his voice, though tears me up too much now to consider.”
We can also reveal that Tom’s American-born mum Cyndi died suddenly in July 2020 at her home in Midhurst, West Sussex, at the age of 65.
A coroner ruled her death as non suspicious but said there was not enough evidence to “establish the cause”.
Steve married Cyndi in 1985 after proposing on air, but the couple divorced in 1999.
It is understood they remained close friends despite him reportedly being heartbroken when she walked out of their home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxon.
Tom, a recovering addict, wrote of losing both parents: “Thank the Gods I’m sober, as this would have straight up killed me even a couple years ago after losing Mum over the pandemic in the same way without getting to see him before he passed after flying back to take care of the old blighter.”
Cyndi left her £500,000 estate to Tom and his sister Lucy, 29, according to the details of her will.
Locals near Steve’s flat, less than ten minutes’ walk from BBC Broadcasting House in Central London, said he had become more withdrawn during Covid.
They speculated it could have been because of Cyndi’s death, which has not been made public until now.
One neighbour said: “After the pandemic he completely shut down.
“He stopped drinking in the area, he stopped going out.
“He was a different person, even before his radio show ended. He was extremely withdrawn.”
It comes after celebrity publicist Gary Farrow told The Sun his friend of 40 years was “devastated” to lose his Radio 2 slot in 2022.
Pals said he “died of a broken heart”. His replacement Scott Mills had taken over in a bid to attract a younger audience.
But the veteran broadcaster’s exit from his Steve Wright In The Afternoon show after 23 years saw a million listeners tuning out.
The move was blasted by fans as “diabolical” at the time.
Steve continued to present his hugely popular Sunday Love Songs on Radio 2.
His final show, a pre-recorded Valentine’s Day edition, was played the day before he passed away.
Steve’s brother has blamed the DJ’s death on his poor diet, and claimed that he concealed health problems from his family.
Laurence Wright, 65, said his sibling’s tendency to eat out at restaurants, combined with his reluctance to talk about various “health issues”, were the main factors behind his passing.
Heartbroken loved ones released a statement announcing Steve’s death.
In it, they spoke of “the millions of devoted radio listeners who had the good fortune and great pleasure of allowing Steve into their daily lives as one of the UK’s most enduring and popular radio personalities”.
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And yesterday, Tom said online: “Thank you everyone for the kindest words and most loving tributes one could ever hope for.
“Dad would have loved and hated it in equal measure!”
From bullied schoolboy to BBC legend
By Jane Matthews
STEVE Wright went from being a bullied schoolboy cruelly dubbed ‘Big Nose’ to a BBC radio legend.
Wright was born in Greenwich, London and attended Eastwood High School in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
It was there that he was cruelly nicknamed Big Nose and Concorde.
His first job after leaving school was in marine insurance but after three years he realised it wasn’t for him.
It was then that Wright left to become a local newspaper reporter.
This led him to BBC, as a record librarian, which then went on to his own shows – and the rest was history.
But in 2022 he announced he was stepping back from his Afternoon show after more than two decades.
He said at the time: “Before we start the show proper, if I may, I’d just like to say thank you ever so much for all the messages that have come in, over the weekend after I announced on Friday on the afternoon that we are leaving the afternoon show.”
The axing saw him take another step towards his Sunday Love Songs show – which he last appeared on just days ago.
