Radio legend Doug Mulray dead at 71

Breakfast radio legend Doug Mulray passed away in Sydney on Thursday, it’s been confirmed.

Legendary Aussie breakfast radio host Doug Mulray has died at the age of 71.

“Uncle Doug” – as he was known to many of his longtime listeners – passed away in intensive care in a Sydney hospital on Thursday.

While his cause of death remains unknown, it’s understood he had been battling poor health in recent times.

Mulray was best known for helping launch Triple M, where he went on to spend the bulk of his career, becoming an iconic voice on the radio landscape.

Just weeks before he was admitted to hospital in December, he made his last public appearance at a Triple M staff reunion at a Sydney hotel.

He told the gathering of radio veterans: “We were the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, with the right attitude.”

Mulray also once described his days in the top slot at Triple M as “an astounding thing to be part of”.

“We were blessed to have that thing... It was a joy to be there,” he said.

“When I left radio, I was over it. I wanted the privacy and I kind of distanced myself... It was kind of like a fantasy.”

Doug Mulray passed away on Thursday.

Mulray got his start in radio at country station 2AD in NSW, before moving to 2GO on the Central Coast.

In the mid-70s, he moved to Melbourne to headline 3AW’s Mulray & The Man before landing a job at 2JJ (now Triple J) in the late 1970s in NSW.

In the early ’80s, Mulray was recruited to help launch the new Triple M, where he would stay for the majority of his career and attract huge ratings in the highly competitive breakfast slot.

(In 2014, industry analyst Radio Today rated his Triple M breakfast show as the third best Australian metro FM breakfast show of all time.)

He joined Peter FitzSimons in the PM drive time slot on 2SM in 1997 before moving to Sydney radio station 2WS (now WSFM), where he stayed until 1999.

While his radio career was an undeniable success, his foray into TV hit a snag after a notorious run-in with then-Channel 9 owner Kerry Packer.

While hosting an episode of Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos in 1992, Mulray introduced a clip of a boy pulling a kangaroo’s testicles.

Mulray’s show was infamously pulled from the air by the Nine boss.

An irate Packer – who happened to be watching – called the studio, demanding that they “get that sh*t off the air!”

As a result, the show was pulled mid-broadcast and replaced with re-runs of US sitcom Cheers.

It never returned to the airwaves, and Mulray was banned from Nine as a result – although he eventually returned in 2005 on talent show Starstruck.

The radio presenter also made an appearance on Ten in 2002 on chat show Beauty And The Beast.

Mulray was inducted into the Commercial Radio Hall of Fame at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards in 2019.

Following news of his passing, 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham praised his “adrenaline”-fuelled broadcasts as he spoke of his impressive radio legacy.

“If there’s a radio station in heaven, they better get the dump button ready, because Doug Mulray is coming,” he said.

Friends, former colleagues and fans also took to social media to pay tribute to the broadcast icon following news of his passing.

So sad to hear of the passing of Doug Mulray. I worked with him at Triple M. He was highly intelligent, hilarious, and always a gentleman. RIP Dougie 💔

— ꋬ꒤꓄꒐ꏂ ꋬꉔ꓄꒤ꋬ꒒꒒ꌦ (@aspieactually) March 30, 2023

#RIp Uncle Doug Mulray dead at the age of 71.
A giant of radio. pic.twitter.com/Ulw09uU1E8

— Geoff Field 🎤📻 (@GeoffField) March 30, 2023

I adored Doug Mulray.
A card-carrying ‘Doug addict’, he’d have me laughing before I was properly awake each day.
After I got into radio I finally met him.
He was more adorable, funnier, wiser & gentler in person. Hanging with him was the best. Vale Dougie 💔
So sad for Lizzie.

— [e-mail] (@DebSpillane) March 30, 2023

I listen to him every morning in peak hour traffic going to work in the 1980’s & 1990’s. Uncle Doug was amazingly talented and unbelievably funny, had me in fits of laughter that I didn’t want to turn off the car radio. #dougmulray#rip#uncledoug#thankyoupic.twitter.com/KtAPBOZ46D

— Mel Jelfs (@MelJelfs) March 30, 2023

Devastated to hear of the passing of Doug Mulray. #rip#godspeed

— Benny (@saintbenny63) March 30, 2023

I'm in shock!
Just heard Doug Mulray has passed away!!
RIP Douggy.
You changed the industry. Your light will continue to shine through your work. A comic genius!!!
Condolences to Miss Lizzy, family and friends.
💔💔

— Roger Scerri .... (aus.social/@RogerS) (@RogerScerri) March 30, 2023