Latest articles by Bill DeMain
“He's never done a band like us; he’s done a lot of heavy metal. But I thought the two could mix": How AC/DC's producer and synthesisers reinvented The Cars
By 1983 The Cars were stagnating, but Mutt Lange and a change of sound saw them heading to the top of the charts
"As I grew up, instead of wanting to marry Paul McCartney, I wanted to be him": How The Bangles wooed 1984 with their power-pop debut All Over The Place
A look back at four Beatles-crazed girls who jangled, spangled, and sang excellent harmonies
"It was a gift. It came from that mysterious place that lyrics sometimes come from": The Tom Petty reject that gave Don Henley the ultimate song of lost innocence
From an unwanted demo came Don Henley's Boys Of Summer, a song that aches with nostalgia and innocence
"Bella Donna had the formula for success: a singer from huge band, a top-notch producer, and a who's who of musicians": Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks
Featuring stellar duets with Tom Petty and Don Henley, Bella Donna established Stevie Nicks as a star in her own right, away from the Fleetwood Mac soap opera
"On the Space Oddity album we had no idea what we were doing. So we tried something different, something harder": the making of David Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World
In 1970 David Bowie was a one-hit wonder, but The Man Who Sold The World helped him recalibrate his sound and vision, setting him on a path to becoming a decade-defining artist
"There was this extra Dolly energy on there – and she's doing these wonderful ad libs, singing around me": Peter Frampton on Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, and sitting down onstage
Having asked to play guitar on Dolly Parton's Rockstar album, Peter Frampton also ended up singing one of his own classics on it
"We're progressive people who grew up in a very conservative town. We're used to bridging the divide": Brothers Osborne's new album is a celebration of freedom and inclusiveness
Having weathered a few years of personal disclosures that might have derailed their career, Brothers Osborne are happily balancing who they’ve become with who they've always been
"I don't want to be a clown any more. I don't want to be a rock'n'roll star": The radical rebirth of Jimi Hendrix and his Band Of Gypsys
In January 1970, Jimi Hendrix pulled the plug on stardom to chase a funkier, freer direction with his Band Of Gypsys. This is their story
"Saucy enough to flavour a thousand barbecues": How a fabled Texan brothel inspired a ZZ Top classic
Celebrating a real-life Texan brothel, the visiting of which was in its day "a rite of passage", La Grange is still one of ZZ Top's best-loved songs and a must-play at shows
14 peace anthems and the stories behind them
From pleas for equality to anti-war sentiments and social commentary, we look at some of the greatest peace songs of all time
Chris Shiflett interviewed Alex Lifeson on his podcast: the experience changed the way he thinks about his own playing
Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett on his solo projects, his hair-metal history, and why surfing might hold the key to happiness
The 50 best rock albums of 2023
The past 12 months may go down in history as a period of tumult and turmoil, but on the positive side, rock'n'roll is very much alive and well – as the best 50 albums of 2023 reflect
"It was put together, as distinct from someone literally sitting down and writing a song": Fleetwood Mac and The Chain, the song assembled from spare parts
How a song forged from disparate scraps came to represent the decade-spanning resilience and staying power of Fleetwood Mac
"I wanted to write something that would take over We Shall Overcome": How John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote the peace anthem that's still trying to change the world
The best-known anti-war song of the 20th century: Recorded by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and an enthusiastic crowd of students, Hare Krishna devotees and celebrity friends
"I'm sure I was appreciated, but it wasn’t hero worship or anything like that": Christine McVie, the calm eye of the Fleetwood Mac storm
Christine McVie brought elegance and soul to Fleetwood Mac through her voice, keyboard playing and some of rock’s most enduring hits
"George Harrison had set fire to an ashtray and was running around the studio with it above his head": the chaotic creation of The Beatles' wildest song
Rock’s most epic battle was always The Beatles versus the Rolling Stones, yet Helter Skelter was inspired by an imagined square-off with The Who
"It's becoming something bigger than yourself, where what you're wearing is just as important as what you're playing:" How Greta Van Fleet are dressing for success
Greta Van Fleet’s wardrobe has developed into an explosion of colour and chest-exposing rock-star chic
Greta Van Fleet interview: "Then one of the biker gangs said 'Hey, come to our place out in the woods, guys, and play for us'"
Greta Van Fleet have emerged from the darkness and uncertainty of the last few years with Starcatcher, a retro-fuelled blast of cosmic light and love that feels like it’s one for the ages
"It was if Merlin himself could not have concocted a spell more perfect": how Stevie Nicks turned to mythology to conjure up Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon
A chance encounter with a fantasy novel inspired Stevie Nicks' witchy hit and helped to resurrect Fleetwood Mac
The 50 greatest Guns N’ Roses songs ever, and the stories behind them
Guns N' Roses changed the shape of rock'n'roll when they emerged in the mid-eighties. Here's a half-century of their very best, and the stories behind them.
A beginner’s guide to country rock in five essential albums
Five must-hear albums that answer the burning question: what is country rock?
The Todd Rundgren albums you should definitely own
Songwriter, producer, singer, multi-instrumentalist… Todd Rundgren's is a diverse and distinguished catalogue from a restless and progressive artist
A beginner’s guide to Southern Rock in 5 albums
Southern Rock is inextricably tied to the land and character of the American South - and here are five albums that tell its tale
