Kenny Everett to be honoured with blue plaque

Groundbreaking comedian and DJ Kenny Everett is to be honoured with a prestigious plaque next month.

During a day-long event on Saturday 14th September 2013, a British Comedy Society blue plaque will be unveiled at Kenny's former home in Kensington. It will be followed by the launch of a brand new authorised biography of the television and radio star, Hello, Darlings!.

The day will be hosted by The British Comedy Society, publishers Transworld Books, and HIV/AIDS charity Terrence Higgins Trust.

The unveiling will be attended by a number of celebrity fans and colleagues of Kenny, including Barry Cryer, Lionel Blair and Sue Cook.

Kenny Everett rose to fame as a disc jockey on pirate radio in the early 1960s, before becoming one of the original DJs on BBC Radio One. Everett was known for and characterised by a unique sound of his own invention, mixing multi-track jingles, silly voices and characters, jokes, and innovative recording techniques, the influence of which is still directly heard on both national and commercial radio to this day.

Everett broke into television from the early 1970s with a series of sketch shows and music programmes, eventually attaining widespread popularity with 1978 Thames Television series The Kenny Everett Video Show. Moving to the BBC during the 1980s and becoming The Kenny Everett Television Show, these sketch series - written with Ray Cameron (the father of Michael McIntyre) and Barry Cryer - took a similar approach to technical innovation in visual trickery and cutting-edge editing techniques, that Kenny had previously trail-blazed on radio.

Having wrestled with his sexuality for decades, Kenny came out as gay in 1985. He then became one of the first celebrities ever to publicly confirm that he had contracted HIV, at a time when the condition had immense stigma. He died in 1995 of an illness related to the disease.

Tickets for the day's events - which starts in Kensington and ends at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel (transport included) - cost £65 per person. Ticket sales are in aid of Terrence Higgins Trust, the charity that Kenny was an early and committed supporter of.

Lunch at the hotel will be followed by the launch of brand new authorised biography Hello, Darlings!, published by Transworld Books on 12th September. Written by Ernie Wise's biographers, James Hogg and Robert Sellers, it features brand new in-depth interviews with Everett's friends, family, and showbusiness colleagues, including Bryan Ferry, Sir Cliff Richard, David Essex, Germaine Greer, Barry Cryer, Paul Gambaccini, and Everett's ex-wife Lee. It also tells of his friendships with Freddie Mercury and The Beatles.

The day concludes with an auction of Kenny Everett memorabilia and personal belongings, again all in aid of Terrence Higgins Trust.

Further information and ticket booking details are available from the BCS Website

Here is a 1997 Heroes Of Comedy documentary looking at Kenny's life, work and influence: