James Valentine, the Australian musician, broadcaster, and author whose warm, curious voice became part of the daily rhythm of Sydney life for more than two decades, died on April 22 at home surrounded by his family. He was 64. Valentine had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in March 2024, and his family confirmed that he chose to end his life through voluntary assisted dying. “He was calm, dignified as always and somehow still making us laugh,” his family said in a statement. He is survived by his wife Joanne and their two children, Ruby and Roy.
Born in Ballarat, Victoria on September 12, 1961, Valentine grew up with music in his blood, studying saxophone and gravitating toward jazz before Melbourne’s vibrant music scene pulled him fully into its orbit. He joined Joe Camilleri’s group Jo Jo Zep in 1982 and fell into the Models almost by accident, after playing in a covers band whose rhythm section happened to be two of that band’s members. “All of a sudden I was in this pop band wearing black leather jackets,” he recalled. He stayed with the Models from late 1984 through 1987, appearing on their two most commercially successful albums, ‘Out of Mind, Out of Sight’ (1985) and ‘Models’ Media’ (1986). The title track of the former reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 and logged 13 weeks on the chart. When the Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2010, Valentine was there to take his place on stage with his bandmates.
His musical collaborations extended well beyond the Models. He worked with Absent Friends, the Wendy Matthews Band, Kate Ceberano, Stephen Cummings, and Jo Camilleri, among others, building a reputation as a generous and technically gifted saxophonist. INXS bass player Garry Gary Beers, who recorded with Valentine in Absent Friends, put it plainly: “James was a truly great sax player and a very decent guy. I will always remember him as the guy who was always smiling, always happy to be in the moment and a guy you could depend on.”
The pivot to broadcasting turned out to be where Valentine’s gifts found their widest audience. He joined the ABC in the mid-1980s and never really left, spending more than 30 years across television and radio, including over 20 years presenting the Afternoons show on 702 ABC Radio Sydney. His show was conversational, curious, and deeply human, built around talkback segments that turned everyday life into something worth listening to. In 2020, he collected a Bronze Award at the New York Festival’s Radio Awards for Best Two-Way Telephone Talk/Interview Show. ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks described him as “a trusted companion for generations of our Sydney audience” who brought “warmth, wit, and humanity to radio.” Fellow presenter Richard Glover said Valentine had “lifted the spirit of the city every day for 25 years.”
Valentine announced his retirement in February 2026, after further tumours were discovered following his initial treatment. In the weeks before his death, Governor-General Sam Mostyn expedited his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), with the medal presented to his children at Admiralty House. “He was sharing his death with us to help us understand our mortality and how we live life better,” Mostyn said. His daughter Ruby noted that Valentine wanted his choice to be known publicly, hoping his voice could lend weight to the conversation around voluntary assisted dying. “If ever he could lend his voice to the argument of why this is such a necessary thing for so many people,” she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese captured the feeling of a nation. “With the passing of James Valentine, we have lost one of our national treasures. When he was on, you always felt like you were in the very best of company.”