Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for

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 ...

. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through

Internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

streams, for his record label

FFRR Records FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label founded as a subsidiary of London Records in 1986, with A&R run by the British DJ Pete Tong. Originally a part of London Records' label roster, F ...

and for his own performances at

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s and music festivals. Tong has also worked as a record producer and is regarded as the "global ambassador for electronic music." The phrase "It's all gone Pete Tong", where the name is used as

rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...

for "it's all gone wrong", was reputedly coined by Paul Oakenfold in late 1987 in an article about

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

called "Bermondsey Goes Balearic" for Terry Farley and Pete Heller's ''Boys Own'' fanzine. '' It's All Gone Pete Tong'' is also the title of a 2004 film which portrays a fictional DJ's experiences as he realizes he is becoming deaf. Tong appears briefly in the film. It is also the name Tong has adopted for his club night at the nightclub Pacha in Ibiza and his nightly radio programme in the United States on

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

's "

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

" EDM format platform. In 2008, Tong was involved with organizing the International Music Summit in

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 ...

, an event that has become an annual fixture (the 2016 Summit was held during 25–27 May). In 2017, Tong won Radio Show of the Year at the Electronic Music Awards for "The Essential Collection".

Biography

Early life

Tong was born in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1960 and was educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent. Tong is a supporter of Arsenal F.C. Tong's original musical interest was in drumming, but he soon moved on to DJing. He played his first public gig at a friend's wedding at age 15. While at school he and a couple of friends earned some extra money by promoting a couple of local bands and booking halls for gigs. He also worked as part of the Kent "Soul Mafia" bringing soul weekenders to seaside towns such as Caister-on-Sea and Prestatyn. In his early years Tong was heavily influenced by the late DJ Froggy. The first album he bought was '' The Slider'' by T-Rex (1972). After leaving school, Tong set up a mobile disco based in a

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a panel van, cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford ...

van, but he soon started his own club in

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...

called Family Function. He also booked bands for an alternative night, the first of which was the then unknown

Culture Club Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...

. Tong originally performed as a DJ using the name "Kickstart Roadshow" and then later "OHMS Roadshow" with an extensive sound system. Later, he became DJ and promoter at the Kings Lodge club in West Kingsdown. Later moving venue to the Hill Top, also in West Kingsdown, he was responsible for breaking classics such as Lonnie Liston Smith's "Expansions" and Ritchie Cole's "Groovin on a New York Afternoon". In 1979, Tong became an advertising sales assistant for ''

Blues & Soul ''Blues & Soul'' is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. ''The Independent'' has noted ''Blues & Soul'' as being the equal of magazines such as ''NME'' and '' Q''. ''Billboard'' magazine has called ''Blues & Soul'' "a r ...

'' magazine. After a year he also contributed some reviews, gossip and sales charts, which continued until 1983. He left Blues & Soul to join

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

as an A&R manager. Through his connections in London Records, Tong was exposed to the newly emerging

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

sound from Chicago. In 1986, Tong organised a compilation album, ''The House Sound of Chicago, Vol. 1'', the first British release to gather and expose this genre. Along with Jules Buckley and the Heritage Orchestra, Tong was part of the 2015 BBC Proms season, performing the Radio 1 'Ibiza Prom'.

Career

Radio

Tong's first appearance on radio was in the late 1970s on Radio Invicta, Europe's first soul music station. Later, he appeared on local radio station BBC Radio Medway, as part of the 'Soul Mafia' and performed occasional mixes for Radio London. In 1981, Tong made his first appearance on Radio 1 as the host of a 15-minute feature on Peter Powell's show—he played new tracks and covered the latest gossip and news from the dance music industry. When Invicta Radio started in Kent in 1984, Tong became the host of a regular soul show on the station. As Tong had joined the developing dance-DJ management company of DJ-turned-journalist Eddie Gordon, of the ''

Kent Messenger The ''Kent Messenger'' is a weekly newspaper serving the mid-Kent area. It is published in three editions - Maidstone, Malling, and the Weald. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays. History The ''Kent Messenger'' grew fr ...

'', he built a prominent county profile and performed at Gordon's local club the Slammer. Tong joined

Capital Radio Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital (radio network), Capital Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Bri ...

in 1988 to present a weekly dance programme. In January 1991, Tong began his Friday evening show, branded as the '' Essential Selection'' for its first 15 years, on BBC Radio 1. The show still continues every week (currently it is broadcast at 10PM for two hours, either pre-recorded from Tong's garage at his home in Los Angeles or live from the eighth floor of

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

) and Tong is now the longest serving DJ on the station (following the death of Annie Nightingale). Additionally, a one-hour Sunday edition of the programme, called "The Essential Selection - Part 2", was broadcast from April 1992 to April 1993. A spinoff, titled ''The Rap Selection'' (featuring rap, ragga and new jack swing), aired on Thursday evenings on the station from 9 to 10PM from April 1991 until March 1992. From October 1993, Tong oversaw the production of the '' Essential Mix'' show, which was devised and, until 2003, produced by Gordon. The show was the first BBC production to broadcast live from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The 500th mix was broadcast on 23/24 April 2010, featuring solely Tong on the Friday night and Tong, plus DJs Sasha and Richie Hawtin, live from Circus nightclub in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, UK, for the second section. In 2011, Tong filed a restraining order against the

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

singer Shara Nelson after she harassed him with nuisance calls and falsely claimed they were married. She was given a 12-month community order and 80 hours of community service. In November 2012, Tong was asked by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

in the US to help launch a new EDM channel, on their

platform, called 'Evolution'. Along with the launch of the channel, Tong introduced a nightly two-hour programme titled ''Its All Gone Pete Tong'', which is similar to his BBC 1 programme. The platform would later form the basis for Clear Channel to expand the Evolution brand, with the 20 December 2012 launch of the format on WEDX/

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

that included Tong's station promos and voice-overs. Likewise, Tong's iHeartRadio programme is also broadcast on WEDX. In addition, a supplemental 2-hour weekly programme, '' Evolution Beatport Show'', is also aired on various Top 40/CHR and Rhythmic stations in the U.S. and in other countries and is syndicated by Premiere Networks. In 2019, Tong started a series for BBC Radio 2 called ''Pete Tong's House Nation'', a personal exploration of house music.

DJ

Tong is one of Britain's most recognised DJs, having gained a large following of fans from his ''Essential Selection'' programme. He was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to Broadcasting and Music. From 2003 to 2007, Tong was the resident DJ at Pacha nightclub in Ibiza, where he oversaw the ''Pure Pacha'' events. In 2008, Tong left Pacha and signed with Eden nightclub in Sant Antoni de Portmany to host his own Wonderland night. Tong explained in a 2009 interview that he, "from a UK perspective", has played in Ibiza since inception (1991) and, as of the time of the interview, divided his time between the UK, Ibiza and the US. In March 2011, he announced that he would be returning to Pacha on Friday nights with a new event named 'All Gone Pete Tong'. Tong played the Together Winter Music Festival in London, UK, at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

on 26 November 2011. He appeared in the 2016

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated documentary film about American DJ and producer Steve Aoki, titled '' I'll Sleep When I'm Dead''. Tong has returned to DJ in his native Kent several times in his professional career, including several stints at The Loft in Maidstone. Additionally, Tong hosts a pool party each year during Miami Music Week at one of the hotels on South Beach. In 2018, Tong was joined by Idris Elba, The Black Madonna, Black Coffee and The Martinez Brothers, among others.

Discography

Mix albums

All chart positions are in the

UK Compilation Chart The UK Compilation Chart is a record chart based on sales of multi artist compilation albums in the United Kingdom. It is compiled weekly by the Official Charts Company (OCC), and each week's Top 40 is published online on the official websites o ...

except for '' Classic House'' (2016), ''Ibiza Classics'' (2017) and ''Chilled Classics'' (2019) where the chart positions are for the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. * ''Cream Live'' (1995) (#3) (CD1, mixed with Paul Oakenfold) * '' The Annual'' (1995) (#13) (CD1) * ''The Annual II'' (1996) (#1) (CD1) * ''Dance Nation 3'' (1997) (#1) (Mixed by Pete Tong and Judge Jules) * ''Essential Selection Summer 1997'' (1997) (#4) (Orange cover) * ''Dance Nation 4'' (1997) (#2) (CD 1) * ''The Annual III'' (1997) (#3) (CD1) * ''Essential Selection Winter 1997'' (1997) (#10) (Light blue cover) * ''Dance Nation 5'' (Mixed by Pete Tong and Boy George with samples taken from DJ Karrington Coles music) * ''Essential Selection Spring 1998'' (#4) (Green cover) * ''Essential Selection Summer 1998'' (1998) (#4) (Red cover of strawberries) * ''Essential Selection Summer 1998'' (1998) (Limited Edition) (#2) (Yellow cover of strawberries, CD3 is ''Twelve Ibiza Classics'' mixed by Paul Oakenfold) * ''Essential Selection '98 Tong/Oakenfold'' (1998) (#13) (Orange cover of oranges) * ''Essential Selection '98 Tong/Oakenfold'' (1998) (Limited Edition) (#11) (Purple cover of tinted oranges, CD3 is mixed by Carl Cox) * ''Essential Selection Spring 1999'' (1999) (#13) (Cover of gold, green and purple easter eggs) * ''Essential Selection Spring 1999'' (1999) (Limited Edition) (#3) (Gold cover of easter eggs, CD3 is ''Hacienda Classics'' mixed by Graeme Park) * ''Essential Selection Ibiza 1999'' (1999) (#11) (Cover of blue, red and yellow buckets and spades) * ''Essential Selection Ibiza 1999'' (1999) (#7) (Cover of green, purple and virdian bucket and spades, CD3 is mixed by DJ Pippi) * '' Essential Selection Presents Music From The Motion Picture Human Traffic'' (1999) * ''Essential Millennium'' (1999) (#10) (Mixed by Pete Tong/

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

/Paul Oakenfold) * ''Essential Selection Spring 2000'' (2000) (#8) * ''Essential Selection Ibiza 2000'' (2000) (#11) * ''Essential Mix 2000'' (2000) * ''Essential Mix Mixed by Pete Tong'' (2001) * ''Twisted Beats'' (2001) * ''Essential Selection Presents The Clubber's Bible Winter 2002'' (2001) * ''Fashion TV Presents Pete Tong'' (2003) * ''Essential Selection Pete Tong'' (2003) (did not chart) * ''Pure Pacha Ibiza: Mixed by Pete Tong and Andy B'' (2004) * ''It's Showtime! (Pete Tong Presents Pure Pacha Vol.II Summer Season 2005'' (2005) * ''Essential Classics'' (2005) * ''Pure Pacha Vol.1'' (2006) (Mixed by Pete Tong & Sarah Main) * ''Essential Dance Mix'' (2006) * ''Pure Pacha 3'' (Mixed with Pete Tong and Sarah Main) * ''Wonderland'' (2008) * ''Pete Tong Presents Wonderland 2009'' (2009) * ''Pete Tong Presents Wonderland 2010'' (2010) * ''Pete Tong and Riva Starr: Future Underground'' (2011) * ''All Gone Pete Tong & Felix da House Cat Ibiza '11'' (2011) * ''All Gone Pete Tong & Groove Armada Miami '12'' (2012) * ''All Gone Pete Tong & Skream Miami '13'' (2013) * ''The Pete Tong Collection'' (2013) * '' Classic House'' (2016) (UK #1) * '' Ibiza Classics'' (2017) (UK #11) * ''Chilled Classics'' (2019) (UK #20) * ''Pete Tong & Friends - Ibiza Classics'' (2021)

References

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 2010 (video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tong, Pete English radio DJs English club DJs People from Ibiza Living people People educated at King's School, Rochester People from Dartford English house musicians English record producers A&R people Ministry of Sound BBC Radio 1 presenters Musicians from Kent Members of the Order of the British Empire George FM 1960 births English electronic dance music DJs FFRR Records artists