Leona Graham

Leona Graham (born 18 January 1971[1]) is a British radio broadcaster and voiceover artist.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] She is currently a presenter of Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio), a position she has held since 2000.[10] She can also be heard on the digital stations Absolute 80s and Absolute Classic Rock.[11][12]

Leona Graham
Born (1971-01-18) 18 January 1971
OccupationRadio presenter
Career
ShowAbsolute Classic Rock Party
NetworkAbsolute Radio
Websitewww.leonagraham.com

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 2011.[13]

Education

Leona Graham was educated at Berkhamsted School for Girls in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. She then studied at the University of Warwick from 1989 to 1993 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama. She is also a qualified school teacher.[12]

Radio broadcasting

Early career

She began her career in broadcasting at W963 University Radio Warwick (now Radio Warwick)[14] 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.[12][15][16]

FromToStation/EmployerSlot/Function
01/199506/1995Choice 102.2Presenter 2 – 6 am
08/199508/1996Power FMBreakfast Show co-host

Presenter of Early Breakfast 5 – 6 am

08/199603/199896.4 The EaglePresenter 2 – 6 pm weekdays
03/199811/1999Surf 107.2Breakfast Show DJ
11/199903/2000Core DAB RadioPresenter weekdays 2 – 7 pm

Virgin Radio

Leona Graham joined Virgin as a presenter on 28 April 2000.[10] 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.[17][18]

She was the second presenter heard on Virgin's digital station Virgin Classic Rock at its launch in 2003.[10]

Absolute Radio[19]

Leona stayed after Virgin Radio was re-branded as Absolute Radio. She works both as a main presenter and a fill-in presenter.

She can be heard every weekday from 10 am to 10 pm across three stations: main station (from 10am till 1 pm); then Absolute 80s (from 1pm till 4pm) and Classic Rock station (from 7pm till 10 pm). On Saturday, she works from midday to 6 pm, first with Classic Rock station (till 4 pm) and finally 80s station.[11][20]

On 9 January 2012, Leona took over the weekday 1 pm – 5 pm slot for three months on Absolute Radio following the departure of Nick Jackson until Andy Bush arrived at the station.

Leona currently broadcasts on Absolute Radio from 10am-1pm, Monday to Friday.

Interviews

At Absolute Radio Leona Graham has interviewed rock star Alice Cooper,[21] AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson and vocalist of Free, Bad Company and Queen Paul Rodgers.[22]

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.[16][23][24]

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 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.[25][26]

References
  1. Biography on debretts.com Archived 26 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Mahoney, Elisabeth. "Radio review: Happy ever after". The Guardian.
  3. Monkey. "Monkey's diary from the MediaGuardian section". The Guardian.
  4. Plunkett, John. "JK and Joel join Virgin Radio". The Guardian.
  5. Mahoney, Elisabeth. "Elisabeth Mahoney: radio review". The Guardian.
  6. cision.com, an industry news service, mentions Leona Graham as a broadcaster Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Virgin rock on Sky".
  8. Radio Today mentions Leona Graham as a broadcaster Archived 3 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "rapido.co.uk". Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  10. "We are Bauer Media – Bauer Media".
  11. "Leona Graham". Absolute Radio.
  12. "Leona Graham".
  13. "RadioAwards.org – All About Awards".
  14. The Independent of 22 August 2005 regarding her involvement with Radio Warwick
  15. Trewin, Janet (2003). "Presenting on TV and radio: an insider's guide", Focal Press. ISBN 978-0-240-51906-7.
  16. Leona Graham's professional profile and CV at Linkedin Archived 29 November 2012 at archive.today
  17. "Leona Graham".
  18. Timms, Dominic. "Music fades for Virgin DJs". The Guardian.
  19. "Leona Graham". Absolute Radio. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  20. "Schedule – LeonaGraham.org – Radio Presenter and Voice Over Artist – Fan Site". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  21. "Login".
  22. List of recent audio and video interviews Archived 10 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  23. Voiceovers section on her professional website Archived 8 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  24. rhubarb.co.uk artist page for Leona Graham
  25. "RadioAwards.org – All About Awards".
  26. "We are Bauer Media – Bauer Media".
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