# Vernon Kay Marks the Closing of Maida Vale Studios, the Room That Hosted The Beatles and Bowie

> Vernon Kay told BBC Radio 2 listeners the doors are closing on Maida Vale, ending an era for a studio that hosted The Beatles, David Bowie, Nirvana and Beyonce since 1909.

- Source: Life Channel
- Canonical URL: https://lifechannel.one/article/vernon-kay-marks-the-closing-of-maida-vale-studios-the-room-that-hosted-the-beatles-and-bowie
- Author: Sienna Blackwood
- Section: Relationships
- Published: 2026-08-15T12:44:50.788Z
- Updated: 2026-08-15T12:44:50.788Z
- Tags: Vernon Kay, Maida Vale, BBC Radio 2, music history

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BBC Radio 2 host Vernon Kay used his show to mark the closure of Maida Vale, the London studio complex the BBC has decided is unsuitable for the 21st century after concerns over asbestos. We're closing the doors on Maida Vale, Kay told listeners, treating the moment less as a news update than as a farewell to a building with a genuinely unusual history.

That history runs back to 1909, when the site opened as a roller skating palace long before it became a recording studio. It survived bombing during World War II and went on to host the BBC Symphony Orchestra as well as the famous John Peel Sessions, with a guest list over the decades that included The Beatles, Nirvana, Beyonce and David Bowie.

The building itself is not disappearing. It sold for 10.5 million pounds to a group that includes Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer and is currently being refurbished for a new chapter. What is ending is its role as the BBC's own studio, and with it, the Piano Room sessions recorded there, which are relocating to London's Olympic Park rather than being retired outright. And that's the end of a chapter for the Piano Room, Kay said, marking the shift.

The final Piano Room session recorded at Maida Vale itself was performed by Gwen Dickey alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, closing out the space's run in fitting company given how many major names had passed through it before her. For Kay, the announcement came during a stretch of personal attention too, between his friendship with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his ongoing divorce from television presenter Tess Daly, but on air the focus stayed on the studio and what its closing means for the music it helped shape.

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Originally published by Life Channel. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://lifechannel.one/article/vernon-kay-marks-the-closing-of-maida-vale-studios-the-room-that-hosted-the-beatles-and-bowie.