{"id":1897946,"date":"2026-04-23T03:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1897946"},"modified":"2026-04-23T03:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:58:09","slug":"james-valentine-sax-player-with-models-and-beloved-radio-presenter-dies-at-64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1897946","title":{"rendered":"James Valentine, Sax Player With Models and Beloved Radio Presenter, Dies at 64"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tJames Valentine, the versatile Australian artist, author and broadcaster who was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as a member of Models, and whose pivot to broadcasting earned him millions of fans and international awards, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 64.<\/p>\n
See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\u201cJames passed peacefully at home surrounded by his family, who adored him,\u201d Valentine\u2019s family remarks in a statement, issued Thursday, April 23. <\/p>\n
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\n\tA talented saxophonist with an ear for jazz, Valentine was a prominent recording and touring artist through the 1980s with a string of Australian bands, including Models, Absent Friends, and the Wendy Matthews Band, Jo Camilleri, Stephen Cummings, Kate Ceberano, and others.<\/p>\n
\n\tValentine performed on the band\u2019s fourth, and most commercially successful album, Out of Mind, Out of Sight<\/em>, which peaked at No. 84 on the Billboard 200 in 1986, and logged 18 weeks on the chart. The collection yielded three domestic top 40 hits \u201cBig on Love,\u201d Barbados\u201d and the title track, which reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986, and chalked up 13 weeks on the list.<\/p>\n\n
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\n\tWhen Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Sydney back in 2010, Valentine took his place on stage with his former bandmates. Just days later, co-frontman and bass player James Freud died by suicide, aged 51.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe were probably a big deal in our heads,\u201d Models drummer Barton Price tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, \u201cbut James never took it that seriously.\u201d Bandmate Roger Mason adds, \u201che was a very down-to-earth person. In fact, I\u2019d have to say, annoyingly, he was the most mature one in the band.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tValentine, it turned out, was a talent in the studio and was magic on the mic. He hosted radio and television programs across the ABC for 30 years, including 20-plus years presenting the 702 ABC Sydney Afternoons radio show.<\/p>\n
\n\tHis inquisitiveness and passion for exploring the matters that make us tick made his show a popular one well outside of Sydney; in 2020, he collected a Bronze Award for Best Two-Way Telephone Talk\/Interview Show at the New York Festival\u2019s Radio Awards.<\/p>\n
\n\tPrime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes to Valentine. \u201cHe was someone who was always worth listening to,\u201d Albanese told 702 ABC Sydney. \u201cHe was so interesting and he was so full of life. All of our thoughts are with his family and his friends and, indeed, the ABC family today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tABC chair Kim Williams depicted Valentine as a \u201ccreative polymath,\u201d while New South Wales premier Chris Minns recounted the late artist and presenter\u2019s \u201cquirky, unique way of talking with people in Sydney,\u201d noting \u201che was both an interested and interesting person, which is unique. He will be hugely missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAustralia\u2019s Governor-General Sam Mostyn has revealed that Valentine was last weekend made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), a prestigious award in the national honors system, recognizing exceptional service or achievement.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHis ideas were, as they were on radio, just lovely, gentle, sensible, really important things about how community comes together and how we all have a role to play,\u201d Mostyn explains.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn March 2024, Valentine told listeners that he\u2019d been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, and took a leave of absence to pursue treatment. He returned to the Afternoons slot in 2025, but left once more in June when scans revealed a tumor had been detected in his omentum.<\/p>\n
\n\tValentine is survived by his wife Joanne and their two children.<\/p>\n\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/james-valentine-screengrab-1800.jpg?w=846″] Trending on Billboard James Valentine, the versatile Australian artist, author and broadcaster who was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as a member of Models, and whose pivot to broadcasting earned him millions of fans and international awards, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 64. Explore Models See […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1897946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1897946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1897946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1897946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1897946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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