Tributes pour in for Sir Terry Wogan

Tributes have been flooding in worldwide – and the Black Country is no exception. Sir Lenny Henry, Beverley Knight and Suzi Perry spoke of their sadness, while local band Rang-A-Tang also hailed the veteran star, who backed their novelty single 'Very Terry Wogan' in the E&S in 2008. Ex-Countdown champion-turned-E&S writer Pete Cashmore worked with him on the Channel 4 show and said: "He was the nicest chap you could meet."

The death of Sir Terry Wogan is 'a seismic loss to TV and radio' says Black Country star Beverley Knight as tributes poured in last night.

Miss Knight was one of hundreds of celebrities who have been paying tribute to Sir Terry who died yesterday after a battle with cancer, aged 77.

In 1997 I ended up, somehow, in the series final of Countdown, and in Dictionary Corner was surely the dream double act of Terry and his radio sparring partner Ken Bruce.

I may have been shaking like an entire arboretum of leaves, but it was wonderful to watch their warm, effortless badinage. Next to the malapropisms and fumbled lines of Richard Whiteley, they were like broadcasting gods.

When Whiteley stumbled (it happened from time to time), Terry would chide him with a: "You've not been doing this long, have you?" And the audience would roar.

I remember getting one word, 'klaxons', about which I was unsure and Terry explained it thusly in his delicious brogue: "Ah yes, I remember these from the old submarine war films, 'Sound the klaxons, Snotty, full steam ahead!" Susie Dent couldn't have put it better herself.

But what really struck me was his willingness to mix with the people where other celebrities would run scurrying to the Green Room to get away from them.

During my time in the final stages of Countdown, he would happily sit in the canteen for his lunch and accept dining companions, although few were forthcoming, stricken with awe. He lingered in the studio long after the end of the show, well-wishers like moths to his night-light.

My mother did particularly well despite being similarly awe-struck, once he'd found out she was the winner's relative. For a long moment, it was like there was just Terry and her in the studio. Which was quite weird, especially for my father.

The term 'man of the people' is an over-used one, but I believe Terry was – what I saw on that wonderful day reinforced that. He didn't do it for his ego, he did it because of the restorative power of making people happy.

Afterwards, I got drunk with him and Ken Bruce in the Yorkshire TV bar.

Tributes have been pouring in from across the Black Country to the legendary presenter who succeeded on radio, game shows, chat shows, Children in Need and memorably made the Eurovision Song Contest watchable with his wicked, witty commentary.

Beverley tweeted a picture of herself alongside Sir Terry and said: "So saddened to hear we have lost Sir Terry. Every time he interviewed me he was warm, charming & tried to stuff me with biccies.A seismic loss to TV & radio."

Fellow TV presenter Suzi Perry, who also hails from Wolverhampton, paid her respects on Twitter, saying: "Fabulous man. I utterly adored Terry. It's so very sad. I used to have the stop the car because he made me laugh so much in the mornings – tears of laughter back then. We'll miss him."

Dudley comedian Lenny Henry also paid a simple tribute, by tweeting: "Very sad news about Sir Terry Wogan."

For Wombourne band Rang-A-Tang, getting to meet Sir Terry was a career-defining moment. The group, who bill themselves as 'The UKs Top Party Band', had a minor hit in 2008 with their song 'Very Terry Wogan'.

The song, described by frontman Michael Crane as a 'flippant tribute', was picked up by Sir Terry and played regularly on his Radio 2 show, leading to national exposure and a meeting with the man himself.

Mr Crane said: "For us, it was a really life-changing time, we just the wrote the song because we liked Terry and his style on the radio.He didn't appear to take himself too seriously and he was always funny, we thought that was a great way to live your life and quite similar to how we approached performing.

"His fan group The TOGs arranged for us to go down to Abbey Road to re-record the song after he started playing it pretty much every day. It all became a bit of a whirlwind for us at that point, it was national exposure we weren't used to. He really supported us and he also said kind words about Wolverhampton whenever he would play the song, giving the city some good press that was much needed at the time."

The band finally got to meet Sir Terry at a fan convention in Leicester, where they found him to be just as genuine and approachable in real life as he appeared on the radio.

Mr Crane said: "Often when you meet famous people you don't know what to say and there is just this void of silence. With Terry, he just spoke about very normal things like what he was having for his tea.

"We were posing for photographs with him for the local newspapers and I asked if doing this kind of thing ever got tiring.He told me that he was grateful that he was given the opportunity to stand in front of a camera and make people happy.

"He did a lot for our band, it was a time I will never forget and he will be sadly missed."