Leona Graham (born 18 January 1971) is a British radio broadcaster and voiceover artist. She is currently a presenter of

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...

(formerly

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...

), a position she has held since 2000. She can also be heard on the digital stations

Absolute 80s Absolute Radio 80s is a national digital radio station, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. History Absolute Radio 80s launched at 7.00pm on 4 December 2009, replacing Absolute Xtreme. The marketing plan for Abs ...

and Absolute Classic Rock. In addition Leona Graham has recorded voiceovers for numerous national and local TV and radio stations and commercials. Leona Graham was a judge at the

Sony Radio Academy Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

2011.

Education

Leona Graham was educated at Berkhamsted School for Girls in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. She then studied at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

from 1989 to 1993 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama. She is also a qualified school teacher.

Radio broadcasting

Early career

She began her career in broadcasting at W963 University Radio Warwick (now

Radio Warwick RAW 1251AM is the student radio station at the University of Warwick and winner of the 2000 and 2003 BBC Radio 1 Student Radio Association Best Station awards. Formerly known as W963, during the years when broadcasts were conducted via an in ...

)The Independent of 22 August 2005 regarding her involvement with Radio Warwick
/ref> where she presented the "Thursday Night Rock Show" and a nightly magazine style news programme called "Weekday Warwick". Before joining Virgin Radio in 2000 Leona Graham worked for a number of radio stations, at first for low pay and during the night.Trewin, Janet (2003). "Presenting on TV and radio: an insider's guide", Focal Press. .Leona Graham's professional profile and CV at Linkedin

Virgin Radio

Leona Graham joined

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

as a presenter on 28 April 2000. During her time with Virgin Radio she presented a variety of shows: Virgin Radio UK Album Charts, Virgin Radio Party, Teenage Kicks, 80's Anthems, Smells like the 90's, The Classic Rock Show, The Late Show, Virgin Love and Weekend Breakfast. She was the second presenter heard on Virgin's digital station Virgin Classic Rock at its launch in 2003.

Absolute Radio

Leona stayed after Virgin Radio was re-branded as

(formerly

. She works both as a main presenter and a fill-in presenter. She can be heard every weekday from 10am to 10pm across three stations: main station (from 10am till 1pm); then Absolute 80s (from 1pm till 4pm) and Classic Rock station (from 7pm till 10pm). On Saturday, she works from midday to 6pm, first with Classic Rock station (till 4pm) and finally 80s station. On 9 January 2012, Leona took over the weekday 1pm5pm slot for three months on Absolute Radio following the departure of Nick Jackson until Andy Bush arrived at the station. Leona currently broadcasts on

from 10am-1pm, Monday to Friday.

Interviews

At Absolute Radio Leona Graham has interviewed rock star

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

lead singer

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

and vocalist of Free,

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Paul Rodgers Paul Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of numerous bands, including Free, Bad Company, The Firm, and The Law. He has also performed as a solo artist, and co ...

.List of recent audio and video interviews

Voiceovers

Leona has recently set up her own Voice over production Company called High Voltage Media. Leona has been the voice for BBC Radio One, BBC 5 LIVE, 95.8 Capital FM, The BOX, E4, Virgin Radio and Absolute Radio. She also contributes regularly for BBC1, ITV1 and SKY1 and narrates programmes for Channel 4. She is also known for her voice in movie trailers on Virgin Media TV.Voiceovers section on her professional website
rhubarb.co.uk artist page for Leona Graham
/ref> More recently she started working with Orion Media to produce trailers for its stations BRMB, Mercia and Wyvern FM and is one of the voices of Canadian radio station 102.3 Now Radio in Edmonton.

Awards

In 2010 Absolute Radio received a Bronze

Sony Radio Academy Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

in the category Best Station Imaging for its imaging package in which Leona Graham was one of the major contributors as Absolute Radio's station voice.

References

External links

Leona Graham's commercial websiteLeona Graham's websiteLeona Graham's fan siteThe No Repeat Guarantee on Absolute RadioThe 80s No Repeat Guarantee on Absolute 80sLeona Graham on Absolute Classic Rock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Leona Living people English radio DJs Alumni of the University of Warwick Absolute Radio 1971 births