43 Facts About Dave Fanning

David Fanning was born on 27 February 1956 and is an Irish television and radio broadcaster, rock journalist, DJ, film critic and author.

Dave Fanning has presented more than twenty different TV shows for RTE Television, from 2TV to The Movie Show.

Dave Fanning hosted RTE's live television coverage of Live 8 in Hyde Park, London, and Live Earth in Wembley Stadium, London.

Dave Fanning has conducted over 200 interviews with global rock stars.

Dave Fanning has been the recipient of a number of 'Best DJ' awards from various publications, including Hot Press where he topped the annual readers' Poll for over twenty years.

Dave Fanning won numerous IRMA awards and was nominated for Best DJ at The Meteor Music Awards on seven occasions, winning four times.

Dave Fanning's father, Barney, was a commissioner in the Irish Office of Public Works, his mother, a retired schoolteacher.

Dave Fanning was a member of The Beatles fan club from the age of eight.

Dave Fanning was educated at Blackrock College, graduating from University College Dublin, with a degree in English and Philosophy and a Higher Diploma in Education.

Dave Fanning began working as a DJ on the fledgling pirate radio station, Radio Dublin; that same year he took over as editor of Ireland's rock magazine.

Dave Fanning then moved to Big D when it was formed by Radio Dublin deejays in 1978.

Dave Fanning continued with that format when he made the move to legal radio in 1979.

Dave Fanning met Gerry Ryan in 1978 while both were working in Dublin pirate radio station "Big D", sharing the common bond of both having attended college, though at separate colleges.

Dave Fanning is married to Ursula, a solicitor, and they have three children.

Dave Fanning has written for a number of newspapers and magazines in Ireland and the UK.

Dave Fanning has written and presented a number of TV and radio shows in Ireland, the UK and the US.

Dave Fanning has been a disc jockey for RTE 2fm since it began in 1979.

In 1994, after a live TV interview with Richard Branson, Branson invited Dave Fanning to join his new station Virgin Radio.

Dave Fanning presented his own show there every week for two years.

In 2014 Dave Fanning wrote, produced and presented a 6 hour, 6-part radio series for BBC 6 Music on the history of Irish rock.

On 22 February 2023, Dave Fanning announced that he was stepping away from his weekend show on RTE 2FM but that he would continue broadcasting on digital radio, on TV and online.

Each year since 1980 Dave Fanning has had an annual alternative music poll called Dave Fanning's Fab Fifty on his radio show.

In 2005, Dave Fanning released an Irish-only triple album, Dave Fanning's Fab 50 Vol 1.

Dave Fanning has always supported young, new Irish talent and played bands' demo tapes.

Between '77 and '79, Dave Fanning was resident DJ at Dublin's city center McGonagles nightclub.

Dave Fanning joined the band on their tourbus through Ireland on the release of their third album War.

In September 2016, Dave Fanning stepped in for the band at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio for its weekend celebration of forty years of the band.

Dave Fanning has been the subject of several television specials and besides presenting various music shows, both live and recorded, he has presented political TV documentaries from Cambodia and Ethiopia.

For three years, Talks With Dave Fanning ran on Sky Arts in the UK.

For its first four years, Dave Fanning was a member of the panel for the Mercury Music Prize.

In 2004, Dave Fanning caused controversy when he chose to become a judge on television talent show You're a Star, to choose that year's act to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2010, Dave Fanning presented a documentary on Bono for RTE TV in the Ireland's Greatest series.

From 2000 to 2010, Dave Fanning wrote and presented the independently produced, late-night TV music programme The Last Broadcast which initially aired on Friday nights and was ninety minutes in length.

Dave Fanning has contributed to numerous BBC TV music programmes, most recently BBC 4 TV's Pop Roadmap of the 80s with Midge Ure in 2018.

Also in 2018, Dave Fanning wrote, presented and produced a highly praised TV documentary Dolores, about the Cranberries' vocalist Dolores O'Riordan, who died in January 2018.

Dave Fanning has written articles for more than twenty publications, both at home and abroad.

Dave Fanning was rock correspondent with The Irish Times for ten years and movie critic for the Sunday World from 1997 to 2004.

HarperCollins in London approached Dave Fanning to write his autobiography and The Thing Is was published in 2010.

In more recent years, Dave Fanning has conducted public interviews with celebrities and musicians at events ranging from The Dalkey Book Festival, to Dublin's Web Summit, to the Electric Picnic.

Dave Fanning wrote the sleeve notes for Ireland's first ever rock compilation album Just For Kicks.

For its first four years, Dave Fanning was a member of the panel for the Mercury Music Prize.

Dave Fanning has been the recipient of a number of 'Best DJ' awards from various publications, including Hot Press, where he topped the annual Readers' Poll for over twenty years.

Dave Fanning won numerous IRMA awards and was nominated for Best DJ at the Meteor Music Awards on seven occasions, winning four times.