James Cusack is a British broadcaster and DJ. He has presented for a number of UK radio networks, including

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

and

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

. He has been a presenter at

since July 2018 and

from December 2020 onwards. In 2017, he was the warm-up act for

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence after participating on the sixth series of the television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2009, where he finished as runn ...

as part of his UK arena tour. Cusack has played a number of DJ sets across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from 2017 onwards, including

Sziget Festival Sziget Festival (, ) is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe. It is held every August in northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbudai-sziget ("Old Buda Island"), a leafy 108-hectare (266-acre) island on the Danube. More than 1,0 ...

and

Untold Festival Untold Festival is the largest electronic music Music festival, festival held in Romania, taking place in Cluj-Napoca at the Cluj Arena. It is held annually and has been designated Best Major Festival in the European Festivals Awards, European Fe ...

. Cusack also appeared with

CamelPhat CamelPhat are an English DJ and production duo, consisting of Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala, formed in Liverpool in 2006. Initially they released music under various names but found success with their 2017 single "Cola (CamelPhat and Elderbro ...

Amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

Early life

Cusack was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

. He appeared on the ITV children's show,

Diggit The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV. GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Friday ...

, whilst at secondary school. It was part of the wider

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

set of programmes, produced by ITV. Cusack appeared on the show with presenters

Fearne Cotton Fearne Cotton (born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author. She began her career in the late 1990s as a children’s television presenter for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. She went on to present various television shows, including ''To ...

and

Reggie Yates Reginald Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British television presenter, actor, writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has wo ...

. While studying at

Thomas Rotherham College Thomas Rotherham College is a college for 16 to 19-year-olds, founded in 1967, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. History Grammar school The college has its origins in Rotherham Grammar School (founded 1483), whose buildings it took over ...

, he secured his first local radio gig, presenting the overnight show on

Hallam FM Hits Radio South Yorkshire, formerly Hallam FM, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Sheffield, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to South Yorkshire and Chesterfiel ...

as a teenager.

Broadcasting career

In 2011, it was announced that Cusack was to become the presenter for the weekend breakfast show on

in the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

. In 2015, he moved to the larger Yorkshire audience, to present the same show but for

Capital Yorkshire Capital Yorkshire was a regional radio station owned by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcast to South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Capi ...

. Cusack returned to TV work in 2016, this time to appear on-screen in a small non-recurring role in

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

. Cusack also presented the Christmas lights event at

Meadowhall, Sheffield Meadowhall is an indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies north-east of Sheffield city centre, and from Rotherham town centre. It is the largest shopping centre in Yorkshire, and currently the twelfth-largest in ...

for a number of years while at Capital. After three years at Capital, Cusack moved internally within the

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

group of companies, to

in July 2018. He was part of Heart's Sunday lineup alongside

JLS JLS (initialism for Jack the Lad Swing) are a British boy band consisting of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill; Williams formed the band. They initially signed with Tracklacers production company New Tr ...

bandmember,

Marvin Humes Marvin Richard James Humes (born 18 March 1985) is an English singer-songwriter, disc jockey, radio host, television presenter, and former actor. Before rising to prominence as a member of the British boy band JLS, he had an acting role in Hol ...

, and Spice girl,

Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, media personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Pop music, pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, reflecting the ...

. In December 2020,

announced that Cusack would begin presenting for them during the festive period. In 2021, he was invited back to present as part of

’s Easter weekend lineup, before covering for

Adele Roberts Adele Claire Roberts (born 9 March 1979) is a British broadcaster and reality TV personality and DJ, known for her work on BBC Radio 1. Her best known television appearances were in '' Big Brother'', '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!,'' ' ...

on Radio 1 Weekend Breakfast in July and August 2021. He has since appeared on the schedule numerous times, including on New Year's Eve 2021 in the 5:30pm–9:30pm evening slot and covering for

Matt Edmondson Matthew Edmondson (born 27 December 1985) is a British television and Sony Award-nominated radio presenter, best known for his work with BBC Radio 1 and ITV2. Edmondson currently presents the weekday afternoon show on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesd ...

and

Mollie King Mollie Elizabeth King (born 4 June 1987) is an English pop singer, songwriter, radio presenter and a member of girl group The Saturdays. As part of The Saturdays, King has had 13 Top 10 and eight Top 5 singles, including the UK number-one hit ...

on the weekend 1pm-4pm show in January 2022. In 2022, Cusack has appeared more regularly on the

schedule, including appearing on the 10:30am-1pm weekend show in February 2022, broadcast from

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in City of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by The Peel Group, Peel Media; its principal tenants are Mass media, ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, followed by regular shows in the 1pm-4pm weekend slot across April and May 2022. It is also the first time he has appeared on a weekday, covering the Friday afternoon show. In June 2023, Cusack cover presented the

Capital Liverpool Capital Liverpool is an Independent Local Radio station serving Liverpool, England. It is owned and operated by Global

weekday drivetime show for 4 months and now regularly appears as a presenter on

Capital (radio network) Capital is a network of twelve independent contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the stations are owned and operated by Global, while the other two are owned and op ...

. Across 2023, Cusack has continued to appear as one of the main deputy presenters on

now covering a range of weekday and weekend shows on the network including the Friday to Sunday 1-4pm show, weekdays 1-3:30pm as a co-host with Vicky Hawkesworth,

The Official Chart ''The Official Chart'' is a long-running United Kingdom music chart programme, airing each Friday afternoon on BBC Radio 1. It airs the UK singles chart compiled by the Official Charts Company. In July 2015 ''The Official Chart'' moved from ...

on Fridays at 4pm and as a co-host with

in September and October 2023. In January 2025, Cusack permanently joined Radio 1 to host its weekend breakfast show, broadcasting live from Salford. He replaced Sam MacGregor and Danni Diston, who took on the weekend afternoon show.

Music

As a DJ, Cusack has appeared at a number of major

an festivals and appeared alongside major artists, such as

on his 24 Hrs Tour. He performed at

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in 2017 as part of his breakthrough year. During the same year, he also played

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He completed 2017 with an appearance at Amnesia in

, playing on the same night as

and

Gorgon City Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2014 singles " Ready for Your Love" and " Here for You" reached the top 10 in the UK. ...

. He also appeared in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as a talent judge.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusack, James British radio personalities Year of birth missing (living people) Living people