
Gary Graff
Gary Graff is an award-winning veteran music journalist based in metro Detroit, writing regularly for Billboard, Ultimate Classic Rock, Media News Group, Music Connection, United Stations Radio Networks and others. Graff’s work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Classic Rock, Revolver, the San Francisco Chronicle, AARP magazine, the Detroit Jewish News, The Forward and others. Graff has co-written and edited books about Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. A professional voter for the Grammy Awards and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Graff co-founded the Detroit Music Awards in 1989 and continues as the organisation’s chief producer.
Latest articles by Gary Graff

Aerosmith, Kiss, and the making of Honkin' On Bobo
By Gary Graff published
With the back-to-basics blues-oriented album Honkin' On Bobo, Aerosmith let the music do the talking once again

Nancy Wilson reassures fans concerned about Ann Wilson's onstage wheelchair
By Gary Graff published
As Heart resume their Royal Flush tour, Ann Wilson reveals she's been writing songs and is pushing for the band to record a new album

The epic saga of one of rock's great live acts, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
By Gary Graff published
Detroit rock veteran Bob Seger looks back on his early career and his transformation from regional hero to national treasure

David Gilmour on boomer fortune and the making of Luck And Strange
By Gary Graff published
For Luck And Strange David Gilmour assembled a team that produced "the best album I've made since The Dark Side Of The Moon"

Billy Idol on his love for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne
By Gary Graff published
Billy Idol was part of the celebration that saw Ozzy Osbourne inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame at the weekend

Sammy Hagar on trash-talking Foreigner, the band that never gave him an audition
By Gary Graff published
The Red Rocker also reveals he wanted to audition for Foreigner, but Mick Jones couldn't afford it

"It makes this old metal heart beat faster": Rob Halford is excited about the state of heavy metal
By Gary Graff published
As Judas Priest gear up for their US tour, Rob Halford enthuses about the state of metal and reflects on debut album Rocka Rolla

Joe Perry on touring with Kiss and the making of Aerosmith's Honkin' On Bobo
By Gary Graff published
With a back-to-basics blues-oriented just recorded, Aerosmith in 2003 were more determined than ever to let the music do the talking

"We were able to capture the spirit of Detroit": Suzi Quatro and Alice Cooper have recorded a version of the MC5's Kick Out The Jams
By Gary Graff published
Video: Suzi Quatro guests with Alice Cooper during a riotous School's Out in Detroit

How contractual differences between Aerosmith and Metallica at Woodstock 1994 came to blows
By Gary Graff published
Three More Days of Peace & Music? Not quite

What Aerosmith's Steven Tyler saw at Woodstock
By Gary Graff published
As Aerosmith prepared to play at Woodstock 1994, Steven Tyler looked back on his experience at the original festival

Mitch Ryder on his long, schizophrenic career
By Gary Graff published
Mitch Ryder had hits in the 60s and has been making music since, but if he had a hit now it would ruin his day

Sammy Hagar on why Joe Satriani was the only man for his Eddie Van Halen job
By Gary Graff published
Exclusive: Sammy Hagar on why Joe Satriani is a guitarist in a million

Sammy Hagar took Alex Van Halen's recent sale of his musical equipment personally
By Gary Graff published
Sammy Hagar has detailed his fruitless attempts to reach out to Alex Van Halen

Bobby Whitlock prepares to be honoured at the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis Memphis
By Gary Graff published
Bobby Whitlock will be honoured today on the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis

A true crime story of Roger Glover, a new Rickenbacker, and Smoke On The Water
By Gary Graff published
Roger Glover bought a new bass guitar for the recording of Machine Head, but things did not go according to plan

We asked Jon Bon Jovi: If you could choose one final song to perform in front of an audience, what would it be?
By Gary Graff published
With a four-part documentary set to stream this week, Jon Bon Jovi says he's optimistic about singing again, but it's in the lap of the gods

Heart kept themselves from starving in their early days by stealing Bachman Turner Overdrive's food
By Gary Graff published
As Heart begin their Royal Flush tour, Ann and Nancy Wilson say that live shows are worth all the "pain, exhaustion and drama"

Steven Tyler on American Idol, dysfunctional behaviour, Johnny Depp and the history of Aerosmith
By Gary Graff published
Somehow, Steven Tyler became a bigger star when he stepped away from Aerosmith

"We get halfway through, just before the solo, and all the power goes off on stage": The night a furious Ray Davies cut a Yes set short before aiming blows and kicks at Rick Wakeman
By Gary Graff published
In late 1971, Yes and The Kinks hooked up for a short run of shows in New York, but brotherly love between the bands was in short supply

"I can't think of a Van Halen song that doesn't put a smile on my face – it's just a question of figuring out how to play them": How Joe Satriani is preparing to pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen
By Gary Graff published
Exclusive: we talk to Joe Satriani as the setlist for Sammy Hagar's upcoming The Best of All Worlds tour begins to take shape

"It has a kind of sense of revolutionary message but also a good sense of humour": Producer Bob Ezrin gives update on eagerly anticipated MC5 album
By Gary Graff published
The MC5's fourth album Heavy Lifting was originally due in 2022, and those involved are determined to see it released in the wake of Wayne Kramer's death

"Wayne was a force of nature. A soul man in a rock'n'roll body": Bob Ezrin pays tribute to late MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer
By Bob Ezrin published
Exclusive: Bob Ezrin, who produced the upcoming MC5 album Heavy Lifting, pays tribute to "one of the best guitar players any of us had ever heard"

"I want to make a record where I don’t have to play by the rules or have any hit singles": Bruce Springsteen on his acoustic masterpiece The Ghost Of Tom Joad
By Gary Graff published
Inspired by the classic novel The Grapes Of Wrath, The Ghost Of Tom Joad became a staple of Bruce Springsteen’s live shows, and led to The Boss teaming up with RATM’s Tom Morello
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