Ray Cordeiro, The Longest-Lived DJ In History, Dies

Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro, also known as “Uncle Ray,” was a disc jockey for more than 70 years before he passed away at the age of 98 in his home.
In Hong Kong, the world’s oldest DJ passed away at the age of 98.

Back in the 2000s, Ray Cordeiro was recognized as the DJ with the longest career in the Guinness Book of World Records. Over the course of his seven-decade career, the musician met and interviewed many of the music industry’s biggest names, including the Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett.

The artist, whose full name is Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro, has been called “a important personality in Hong Kong’s popular culture” by the city’s Minister of Culture. Uncle Ray, as he was fondly known, was born in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district in 1924 and spent the majority of his life there.

He was of Portuguese ancestry. After working as a prison guard and a bank clerk, he got his start in the music business in 1949 with his show Progressive Jazz on Radio Rediffusion.

 

Cordeiro facilitated the careers of numerous Hong Kong musicians and vocalists, and he introduced the city to global pop music trends. The popularity of his shows on RTHK (Hong Kong’s public television) among young people helped to bring him to prominence in the 1960s.

After its debut in 1970, All The Way With Ray quickly established itself as one of the network’s most popular and successful staples. “When I get to connect with my audience through music, I am very happy. As he put it in his memoirs, « I refuse to think of a world without music.

Thousands of his fans responded to the news of his retirement in 2021 by sending him messages of congratulations on his career and best wishes for a happy retirement.

That’s it, the streak is over

“I’m nearing 96 years old and I’m going to turn 97 in December, so I think it’s time for me to stop the day and relax,” he said. “I’m going to miss going back and performing my program because I know that I am gratifying a lot of people around the world.”
On Friday, his loved ones played You’ll Never Walk Alone as they gave him the boot. That’s it, the final broadcast after more than seven decades of broadcasting glory.