Henry Yates

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. 

Articles by: Henry Yates

Gráinne Duffy studio portrait

"There was a lot of pot-smoking going on at the listen-backs": Gráinne Duffy on the Californian vibes of new album Dirt Woman Blues

By Henry Yates published

Singer and guitarist Gráinne Duffy on AI songwriting, being compared to a blues-rock legend, and why Walter Trout should try giving birth

A montage of album covers picked by famous musicians

30 musicians on the album that changed their life as a kid

By Classic Rock published

Members of Kiss, Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Rage Against The Machine and more reveal the albums that set them on the path to rock stardom

Rival Sons sitting in the street

Every Rival Sons album ranked from worst to best

By Henry Yates published

LA livewires Rival Sons are the standbearers for 21st century rock’n’roll. Here’s how to get into their seven album back catalogue

Freddie Mercury onstage at Knebworth: August 9, 1986

"Can you believe that at Freddie Mercury's last concert, no one actually pressed record?": The story of the great showman's last stand

By Henry Yates published

On August 9th 1986, Freddie Mercury played with Queen for 120,000 fans at Knebworth Park. No one knew it would be his final show with the band

Toto in 1982

"She went on several talk shows and said it was about her. But I can tell you that it wasn't": the real story behind Toto's Rosanna

By Henry Yates published

Inspired by upcoming actress Rosanna Arquette - and John Bonham! - Toto knew Rosanna would be a hit the moment David Paich first played it on a piano

Nita Strauss

"It's such a complete record, that perfect balance of technique, songwriting, emotion and energy": Nita Strauss on the music that's soundtracked her life

By Henry Yates published

Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss picks her records, artists and gigs of lasting significance

Buckcherry‘s Josh Todd looking at the camera

“The greatest album of all time? AC/DC’s Back In Black”: this is the soundtrack to Buckcherry singer Josh Todd’s life

By Henry Yates published

Josh Todd’s record collection consists of AC/DC, AC/DC, AC/DC and AC/DC. Oh, and One Direction

“We used to travel in Clark Gable’s Cadillac, refurbished by Rolls Royce. We had a TV in there, and two bars, just for the band”: Secrets of Rick Wakeman’s excess

By Henry Yates published

Keyboard icon's grandiose live shows lit up the 70s, but behind the pomp and majesty lay bad reviews, heart attacks and near ruin

Sweet & Lynch seated at a table wearing sunglasses

Sweet & Lynch: "We're proving to the world that even if you're polar opposites, you can still work together"

By Henry Yates published

Strip survivor and Sweet & Lynch frontman Michael Sweet on keeping the faith, hitting the high notes and preventing fan suicides

Def Leppard - a still from the Pour Some Sugar On Me viedo

"For some bizarre reason, women seem to feel compelled to take their shirts off when we play it..." How Florida's strippers made Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me a hit and saved the band's career

By Henry Yates published

In 1988, sales of Hysteria had stalled, and the record company were desperate to recoup the album's enormous costs. The story of the "stripping song" that came to the rescue...

Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusiante and Jimmy Page

“You could record yourself on a computer”: John Frusciante once wrote Jimmy Page a letter asking him to appear on his best friend’s album

By Henry Yates published

Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante wanted Jimmy Page to appear on The Mars Volta’s Frances The Mute album

A photograph of a young guitarist on stage with an excited crowd

Could you open the UK’s first School of Rock franchise, manage your own music business and inspire the next generation?

By Henry Yates published

School Of Rock are looking for people to start building the franchise in the UK – could you be the one to make a positive impact on young lives in your community?

A gravestone bearing the inscription 'The Grunge Wars: 1989 - 1993)

"We had to die" - A history of The Grunge Wars, told by those who were there

By Henry Yates published

Three decades ago, GN’R’s Use Your Illusion and Nirvana’s Nevermind were released just two weeks apart, setting two musical cultures against each other. We asked combatants from both sides: who won the war?

JAAAW standing on a stony beach in front of a pier

JAAW: "It has to be loud... everything has to be raging and full-on"

By Henry Yates published

Therapy?'s Andy Cairns is ducking out of the day job to moonlight with his new industrial-psych project JAAW, and they're very, very loud

Pop Evil group shot

Pop Evil: "I think back to all those bands that helped when doctors, parents, teachers weren’t there for me"

By Henry Yates published

Pop Evil frontman Leigh Kakaty on getting punched in the face, rock‘n’roll therapy, and teenage run-ins with the law

Jeff Buckley sitting on a street corner in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1994

Amazing Grace: how Jeff Buckley got started on the album that defined his genius

By Henry Yates published

Jeff Buckley’s move to New York in the early 90s was the flashpoint for Grace, the classic album that would outlive him. Collaborator Gary Lucas remembers a star who burned bright and fast

Bonnie Tyler headshot

Bonnie Tyler: the soundtrack of my life

By Henry Yates published

Power-ballad belter Bonnie Tyler picks her records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and reveals that Axl Rose was "horny as hell"

Joe Satriani studio portrait

Joe Satriani: the 10 greatest instrumental tracks ever written

By Henry Yates published

Guitar wiz Joe Satriani picks 10 instrumentals that have guided him on his long career through rock

Several young men watching musicians in TV in the early 1960s

10 revolutionary instrumentals that inspired the guitarists who invented rock music

By Henry Yates published

Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend and the rest: They all owe so much to the instrumental artists of the 50s and 60s

Empyre group shot

Six things you need to know about Empyre

By Henry Yates published

Northampton's new men in black Empyre have survived sickly gigs, killed rock giants, and made grown men weep. You might like them

Wig Wam in a still from the Out Of The Dark video

Wig Wam: "I’d have a bottle of cognac backstage and it was empty when we left"

By Henry Yates published

Wig Wam frontman Åge Sten Nilsen on straitjackets, cognac, and getting into character as his crazed alter-ego Glam

Steve Vai on a harley

Steve Vai: "When people take back their freedom, they become themselves"

By Henry Yates published

Virtuoso Steve Vai on his lost biker-rock record Vai/Gash, its doomed singer, and terrifying moments on two wheels

The Winery Dogs studio portrait

Mike Portnoy: The Winery Dogs are a modern day version of The Who

By Henry Yates published

Drummer Mike Portnoy on power trios, bad band names, and the beauty of the old-school classic rock sound

Jared James Nichols holding a guitar

Jared James Nichols: "After making this record I felt like I’d just got out of a rugby game"

By Henry Yates published

The second-tallest man in rock Jared James Nichols on broken bones and being an “ugly, long-haired shithead” (his words, not ours)

Ugly Kid Joe in 1991

Ugly Kid Joe's Everything About You: a story of MTV, beer drinking and escaped sex dolls

By Henry Yates published

Written in protest at the popularity of sickly ballads, there was much to love about Ugly Kid Joe’s 1992 smash hit Everything About You

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