
Henry Yates
Henry Yates has been a freelance journalist since 2002 and written about music for titles including The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Classic Rock, Guitarist, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer. He is the author of Walter Trout's official biography, Rescued From Reality, a music pundit on Times Radio and BBC TV, and an interviewer who has spoken to Brian May, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie Wood, Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson, Kiefer Sutherland and many more.
Latest articles by Henry Yates

An introduction to John Lee Hooker in nine essential albums
By Henry Yates published
From Mississippi roots to wilderness years and redemption, John Lee Hooker always played the blues his way. Here are the albums that go boom boom

Mick Fleetwood’s wild tales of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger and more
By Henry Yates published
Future rock superstars, US presidents, Hollywood megastars – Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood has met with them all

Eric Bell on the controversial recording of Thin Lizzy's "new" album The Acoustic Sessions
By Henry Yates published
Guitarist Eric Bell and producer Richard Whittaker tell us about Thin Lizzy's acoustic album, grass-addled sessions and why this project definitely isn’t AI

Mark Tremonti on the political climate, being a guitar hero and Frank Sinatra
By Henry Yates published
Take care of business. Quit your comfort zone. Don’t listen to rock journalists. And never forget you could still be washing cars. Life advice from The Book Of Tremonti

Joe Satriani on G3 pranking, handling Yngwie Malmsteen and the Halloween costume he’d rather forget
By Henry Yates published
After three decades of changing line-ups, the original G3 – Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson – returned to the stage

Massive Wagons on sobering up, getting serious, and the size of Bruce Dickinson’s mouth
By Henry Yates published
From greedy politicians to male mental health, Massive Wagons stuck their necks out on 2024's Earth To Grace album

How Aerosmith defied grunge and a giant meteor to become bigger than ever in the 1990s
By Henry Yates published
Aerosmith were huge in the 70s and 80s - but the 1990s was their most successful decade ever

Ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler on the chaos and carnage of Appetite For Destruction
By Henry Yates published
The inside track on Appetite For Destruction from one of the men who played on it

The Eric Clapton albums you should definitely listen to
By Henry Yates published
Eric Clapton's best albums, the cream of his decades-stradling crop

The 50 Best Rock Albums of 2024
By Classic Rock Magazine published
A-listers, established artists, up-and-comers, previously unknowns and more

Fantastic Negrito has poured his upbringing into his extraordinary and beautiful latest album
By Henry Yates published
Xavier Dphrepaulezz on Sion Of A Broken Man, the concept album inspired by his tumultuous relationship with his late father

Kenny Wayne Shepherd on Stevie Ray Vaughan, smoking with Joe Bonamassa, and the creep of AI
By Henry Yates published
The second volume of US bluesman Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Dirt On My Diamonds series is out now

Zakk Wylde’s crazy tales of Ozzy Osbourne, Axl Rose, Eddie Van Halen and more
By Henry Yates published
Trashing hotel rooms with Ozzy, teaching Mark Wahlberg how to rock and almost joining Guns N’ Roses – Black Label Society guitar berserker Zakk Wylde has done all of it and more

A look back at Freddie Mercury's final Queen album, Made In Heaven
By Henry Yates last updated
Put together as a labour of love by Queen’s surviving members, Made In Heaven was followed by multi-platinum sales and five Top 20 UK singles

The Cold Stares’ seventh album is a love letter to Kentucky and a call for unity
By Henry Yates published
Embracing their roots on record for the first time, The Cold Stares' seventh album The Southern shares a vision of the South you won't see from other musicians or the media

Why Nickelback are the rock band all other rock bands secretly wish they were
By Henry Yates published
In 2005, Nickelback were already one of the biggest rock bands in the world – and All The Right Reasons was about to make them even bigger

Joanne Shaw Taylor: The soundtrack of my life
By Henry Yates published
Joanne Shaw Taylor picks her records, artists and gigs of last significance, and reveals why her nephew is practising for a Viking funeral

Six essential posthumous albums by Jimi Hendrix
By Henry Yates published
We've sifted through the hundreds of legally dubious and musically bankrupt albums released under Jimi Hendrix's name since his death in 1970, and come up with six of the best

What Jimi Hendrix means to me, by Eddie Kramer
By Henry Yates published
Producer and engineer Eddie Kramer looks back on his association with the great Jimi Hendrix

The Bryan Adams albums you should definitely listen to
By Henry Yates published
There are infinitely more highlights in the Canadian singer-songwriter’s bulging catalogue than just 'that song'

Bikers, fire hoses and looting: the story of the Guns N' Roses fan riot in St. Louis
By Henry Yates last updated
On July 2, 1991, the infamous 'Rocket Queen riot' kicked off during a Guns N' Roses show at the Riverport Amphitheater in St. Louis. This is what happened

“I don’t recall stockings and suspenders coming into Arthurian legend, but hey, they do now!”: how Rick Wakeman staged the most OTT live shows of the 1970s
By Henry Yates published
The story of prog icon Rick Wakeman‘s epic 1970s shows for Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and King Arthur On Ice

The greatest songs Jimi Hendrix ever recorded
By Classic Rock last updated
In four short years Jimi Hendrix created a rock'n'roll revolution, changing the way guitarists played their instruments and redefining what was possible in music itself
Get the Louder Newsletter
Select the newsletters you’d like to receive. Then, add your email to sign up.