Pete Tong

Pete Tong is Britain's best-loved dance DJ. He doesn't need an award to prove his popularity and he won't act cool to keep his credibility. The host of Radio 1's ground-breaking Essential Selection show for a staggering eight years, he works within the mainstream, but is respected by the underground.

Born in Dartford, educated in Rochester and inspired in his teens by the underground soul scene of the late seventies (and the music of the time...by the likes of Funkadelic, James Brown & Evelyn "Champagne" King) Pete's first DJ job was at a wedding. He was 15 years old. A natural born entrepreneur, he began promoting local bands, booking gigs in a nearby town hall and - as part of the Kent 'Soul Mafia' - playing black soul & dance music in every club that would give him a gig. After leaving school, he bought a Transit van and set up his own sound system.