John Peel, the Radio 1 disc jockey who shaped Britain's musical tastes more than any other in the past four decades, has died on holiday in Peru.

The 65-year-old broadcaster suffered a heart attack last night after being taken ill during a working holiday in the high-altitude city of Cuzco with his wife, Sheila.

Peel had been a Radio 1 DJ since the station started up in 1967 and also hosted a popular Saturday morning show on Radio 4, Home Truths. But he will be best remembered as an uncompromising champion of new music who helped to make stars of acts as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, the Clash and the White Stripes.

Born John Robert Parker Ravenscroft on August 30, 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Peel was brought up in a well-off family in Heswall, near Liverpool. He was educated as a boarder at Shrewsbury School, where he first heard Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel.

"Everything changed when I heard Elvis," he said later. "Where there had been nothing, there was suddenly something."

After finishing his national service, he went to America in 1960 and worked for a string of radio stations in Dallas, Oklahoma and San Bernardino, before returning to 1967 to work for the offshore pirate station, Radio London, where he first adopted the name John Peel.

That station closed in August 1967, when new legislation made the offshore broadcasters illegal and Peel joined Radio 1 as one of its founding DJs. Before his death, he was the only one of them still working there.

Peel was known for his amazingly eclectic tastes, deep love and knowledge of music and for frequent on-air blunders, including playing records at the wrong speed.

He was responsible for introducing millions of British listeners to new types of music, including punk rock, reggae and hip-hop. He was also the first English DJ to play a record twice in a row - Teenage Kicks by the Undertones.

"He was a very funny, very warm man and we will always be grateful for what he did for The Undertones," Michael Bradley, bass player of the Undertones, said today.

"Personally, I find it incredible what he did for the band and we always got huge pride out of the fact that he said Teenage Kicks was his favourite single.

"He always had his finger on the pulse of the music industry and the fact that Radio 1 played the Undertones, the White Stripes and the Strokes today showed just how relevant he remained throughout his career."

Peel's show also featured the famous "John Peel sessions", in which bands were invited to record exclusive tracks for the programme in a BBC studio.

Decidely unglamorous and unimpressed by the showbiz side of the music business, Peel often clashed with other BBC DJs, including Tony Blackburn and Simon Bates. But his popularity outlasted theirs, and even at the age of 65, he was a major force in independent music.

Andy Parfitt, the Radio 1 controller, said: "John Peel was a broadcasting legend. I am deeply saddened by his death, as are all who work at Radio 1.

"John's influence has towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades and his contribution to modern music and music culture is immeasurable.

"Hopeful bands all over the world sent their demo tapes to John knowing that he really cared. His commitment and passion for new music only grew stronger over the years.

"In fact, when I last saw him he was engaged in a lively debate with his fellow DJs over the state of new music today. He will be hugely missed."

Peel won numerous awards for his broadcasting - he was 11-times voted Melody Maker's DJ of the year - and was awarded the OBE in 1998. He was also a keen Liverpool Football Club fan.

Fans flooded Radio 1's message boards with their tributes after his death was announced this afternoon. One listener described the DJ as the "man that shaped and played a soundtrack to my years". Another wrote: "You shall not be forgotten, John! I hope u get a prime time slot in radio heaven."

In April 2003, Peel signed a deal worth up to £1.6 million for his autobiography, which was due out next year. He said this month that the 100,000-word book was half-finished - and he'd only just got to America, at the age of 20.

Peel had been married to Sheila, his second wife, for 30 years and had four grown-up children.

Among the bands and acts Peel championed were: Jefferson Airplane, Captain Beefheart, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, The Faces (featuring Rod Stewart), Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Ramones, The Undertones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Cure, The Fall, Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, The Pogues, Jesus & Mary Chain, Public Enemy, Nirvana, Happy Mondays, Pulp, Blur, The Strokes and The White Stripes.

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