Pete Tong was born in Dartford, Kent during July 1960 and was educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent.

Pete's original musical interest was in drumming, but he soon moved on to DJing. He played his first public gig at a friend's wedding aged 15. While at school he and a couple of mates earned some extra money by promoting a couple of local bands, booking halls for gigs etc. He also worked as part of the Kent "Soul Mafia" bringing soul weekenders to seaside towns like Caister-on-Sea and Prestatyn.

Initially after leaving school he set up a mobile disco based in a transit van, but he soon started his own club in Baker Street called Family Function. He also booked bands for an alternative night, the first of which was the then unknown Culture Club.

In 1979 he became a staff writer for Blues & Soul Magazine [1]. After a year he was promoted to features editor, a position he would hold until 1983. He left Blues & Soul to join London Records as an A&R manager.

Through his connections in London Records Pete was exposed to newly emerging house music sound from Chicago. In 1986 Tong organised a compilation album, The House Sound of Chicago, Vol. 1, the first British release to gather and expose this genre.

Pete's first appearance on Radio was in the late 70's on Radio Invicta 92.4fm, Europe's first soul station, Pete joined a rotation of nightclub djs including, Steve Walsh, Chris Hill, Chris Brown and others to present monthly guest shows. Later he appeared on local radio station BBC Radio Medway in the 'Soul Mafia' and doing occasional mixes for Radio London. Then in 1981 he made his first appearance on Radio 1 hosting a 15 minute feature on Peter Powell's show, playing the new tracks and covering the latest gossip and news from the dance world.

When Invicta Radio started up in Kent in 1984, Pete joined them to host a regular soul show, where ably assisted by local Kent journalist Eddie Gordon of The Kent Messenger he built up a big county profile Pete stayed at Invicta until 1987. He was then hired by Capital Radio in 1988 at the suggestion of DJ Jeff Young to present a weekly dance program. DJ Jeff Young having initially been offered the slot by Capital went to BBC Radio 1 to broadcast a weekly Friday night show called The Big Beat.

In 1991 Pete returned to national radio after Pete's Manager Eddie Gordon talked the then departing DJ Jeff Young into suggesting Pete to BBC Radio 1 as the ideal replacement for the "hot' Friday night slot. Thus Pete began his long stint as the host of the Essential Selection.

The Essential Selection was a BBC Radio 1 show on Friday nights from 6:00pm-9:00pm in the UK. Although this has now been changed. The show is now simply known as Pete Tong and its new time slot is 7:00pm-9:00pm on Fridays. It showcases the latest dance music, with the focus being on house, and informs listeners what club nights are on around the United Kingdom that weekend. It's endorsed by Radio 1 as the official start to the weekend. It attracts one of the highest audiences for a dance radio show in the UK. Pete Tong also hosts a one hour show on Radio 1 on Thursday nights 9:00pm-10:00pm called Pete Tong's In New Music We Trust. Since 1993 Pete has been associated with Radio 1's Essential Mix which airs 2:00am-4:00am on Saturday night/Sunday morning. He is now the station's second longest serving DJ (after Annie Nightingale).

Pete is one of the world's most recognised DJs. He draws people from all over the world to his famous Pure Pacha nights held at the Pacha nightclub in Ibiza, which in 2006 went on for a massive 17 week stint, and featured a massive line up including Andy Carvell and Carl Cox