Bob Rogers retires from radio at age 91

Bob Rogers, Australia’s first Top 40 DJ, has announced his retirement at the age of 91.

Rogers has been on-air in Australia for 74 years. He had planned to work until he was 100 (and was contracted for life) but a stroke six weeks ago brought that goal to an end.

“This may be my last morning,” Rogers told listeners on 2CH, Sydney this morning. “My health has not been nearly as good as it should have been. When I had that stroke six or seven weeks ago, I refused to go to the hospital as I should have done. I’ve got lots of problems but I won’t talk about them. I’ve been told by the medical people that going to work is not good for my potential”.

Bob Rogers started in radio as a panel operator for 3XY, Melbourne in 1942. He scored his first on-air role in Hobart before moving to Brisbane’s 4BH.

In 1962, Rogers joined 2SM Sydney and was chosen to represent 2SM for the Beatles tours in Europe and Asia before they came to Australia.

Bob Rogers joined 2CH in 1995.

In a statement from 2CH, General Manager Cherie Romaro said:

6 weeks ago, while broadcasting, Bob suffered a stroke and he was forced to put down his headphones but, he did not hang them up permanently, determined to return to his listeners and his regular morning show on Sydney’s 2CH.

This week Bob returned to 2CH sounding better than ever.

However, Bob’s medical advice was it was time to rest and take it easy “listening” to Easy Classics on 2CH rather than broadcasting.

Bob Rogers began his career at 3KY Melbourne as the office boy in 1944. This iconic radio legend has had a successful and brilliant career spanning over 74 years.

Bob has one more goodbye on Saturday Night with his successful “Reminiscing” show.