Aircheck Tracker
Profile: Janey Lee Grace: It's fair to say that Janey has walked a steadily rising path to stardom - starting quietly as a backing singer for 80s stars such as Kim Wilde, George Michael and Boy George. However, from backing she moved to fronting with a 1992 top ten hit as 'Cola Boy' - the track '7 Ways To Love' reaching number 8 , spending seven weeks on the Top 40 in July 1991. She's even released her own album 'Feel So Real' which is available from www.realvisionrecords.com or alternatively, www.janeyleegrace.com. She still writes songs and plays the odd live gig from time to time too.
Her entry into the radio world came in 1989 when she began presenting and producing an award-winning Gospel music show for BBC GLR called 'The Gospel Hour'. During this time, she also worked on two BBC World Service 'Sounds Of Gospel' shows, Ministry of Sound, a look at the Gospel scene in both the UK and US for Radio 1 and this also led to her role as expert on BBC1's 'Songs of Praise'. She still maintains an ambition to present a TV Gospel show.
In 1993 she left to join the UK National AM station Virgin as a traffic reporter for Russ Williams and Jonathan Coleman's (Russ & Jono's) Breakfast Show. Her talent was quickly discovered and she went on to host her own overnight show, followed by a weekday show and there was also weekend shows and daily what's on features. In particular, she was popular in her 11:00pm-3:00am slot Monday to Saturday.
To her radio credit, Janey has presented a pop and celeb feature for BBC Radio Five show Vibe! as well as a 1990s Radio 1 documentary on the popularity of Jesus in the modern era. Her voice has also been heard on commercials for Johnson's Baby Lotion, Levi Jeans, Nissan & Mastercard, whilst both her face and voice adorn corporate videos, award ceremonies and charity events.
Janey has also appeared on a significant number of television shows. These include the production and presentation roles on the Sky News Live At Five Gig Guide, a health feature for ITV1's 'Body & Soul', and a live magazine style show, also for ITV1, which handled issues of religious belief. The crossover between television and music radio was made when she stood in for Julia Carling on satellite music channel VH1 - she also presented coverage of National Music Day on the channel as well as the weekly show 'VH1 For You'. In that time, she interviewed a wide variety of music celebrities. Also on TV, Janey worked on the now defunct cable channel L!VE TV presenting 'Video Box' for four days of the week which reviewed the new music releases each week.
Not surprising then, is the fact that she is a graduate in Performing Arts.
Amongst her best and worst bits of her career to date, her best moments were when she was presented with an award for her GLR Gospel show and when she attended the 2002 Sony Radio Awards when Radio 2 was again voted 'Station of the Year'. However, she also recalls the moments before she was due to interview Archbishop Desmond Tutu for Radio 2's 'Good Morning Sunday' when her tights laddered on the way, and all she could get was a pair of hold-ups. As she approached the Archbishop, the hold-ups fell to her ankles!
Janey Lee Grace lives in the Hertfordshire countryside with her husband Simon Etchell, a composer by trade, and children Sonny, born in 1998 & Buddy, born in 1999.
Whereabouts: Today, Janey has two
roles for BBC Radio 2 who she joined in 1999. She presents the
3:00am slot on Saturday mornings, and is also one of the team on Steve Wright's
'Steve Wright In The Afternoon' show every weekday. Since she
arrived at the network, Janey presented a Gospel special at the Millennium, plus
'Good Morning Sunday' and 'Pause For Thought' and she has also
filled in occasionally for other Radio 2 presenters.
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