Sydney ABC radio presenter James Valentine has passed away using voluntary assisted dying after a two-year battle with cancer.
Valentine had a 40 year career as TV and radio broadcaster, including presenting afternoon radio for the past 25 years on 702 ABC.
In February, Valentine retired from the ABC to focus on his cancer treatment.
He is survived by his wife Joanne and his children Ruby and Roy.
“James passed peacefully at home surrounded by his family, who adored him,” Valentine’s family said in a statement.
“Throughout his illness, James did it his way, which lasted all the way until the end when he made the choice to do Voluntary Assisted Dying.
“Both he and his family are grateful he was given the option to go out on his own terms. He was calm, dignified as always and somehow still making us laugh.”
Born in 1961, Valentine grew up in Ballarat and forged a career as musician, playing on Countdown with emerging Aussie bands and musicians including Kids in the Kitchen and Pseudo Echo.
He was a renowned saxophonist who recorded and toured with Jo Camilleri, Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews and The Models, featuring on the band’s two number-one hits, including Barbados, and touring with them across the US and Europe. He was also a member of Jo Jo Zep and Absent Friends.
After a few years on the road, he changed turned his attention to broadcasting, and has been a staple of the Australian media industry since the mid-80s.
He first rose to prominence on TV screens on the ABC, when he hosted cartoons on The Afternoon Show, which was a hit with many children who grew up in this era.
Valentine went on to work across other ABC television programs before moving into radio at 666 ABC Radio Canberra and then Sydney Mornings.
In 1999, James found his true home at the ABC when he began presenting the Afternoons program on 702 ABC Radio Sydney, then known as 2BL.
He held the role for more than two decades, with a brief detour presenting Breakfast in 2022 and 2023.
For most of those years on Afternoons, Valentine handed the mic over to his close friend Richard Glover on Drive.
“I can’t think of anybody else who really lifted the mood of a city over such a long time as James did,” Glove said.
“It was a daily effort to get people to concentrate on life, ordinary life, and how important and beautiful it is, and he did that every day for 25 years.
“So you end up sitting, listening to radio, thinking, ‘Gee, Sydneysiders are funny and lively and witty and gorgeous.
“He brought that out in people.”
Valentine first revealed he had oesophageal cancer in 2024 and took a break from radio to receive treatment before returning later that year.
In June 2025, he took another break to receive treatment for a separate diagnosis, omentum cancer.
In February, while filling in for Afternoons presenter James O’Loughlin,Valentine hung up his mic for the final time.
“This decision has been hard for me to make,” he said at the time, “but look, I think my health is giving me a pretty clear message that it still might be a while until I could return and resume broadcasting.”
ABC managing director Hugh Marks described Valentine as much more than a radio presenter, talented musician and author.
“He has been a trusted companion for so many people, part of the rhythm of everyday life for generations of our Sydney audience,” Marks said.
“James brought warmth, wit, and humanity to radio as an exemplar of radio craft. His style was never about confrontation or noise – it was always about connection.
“James turned his patch of the Sydney airwaves into a place of companionship, and his daily presence will be deeply missed by his significant audience, and all of his colleagues at the ABC.”
Memorial arrangements and opportunities to honour James will be shared in the coming days.
