Ken Sharp

Ken Sharp

Ken Sharp is a New York Times Best Selling writer who has authored or co-authored over eighteen music books, contributes to a variety of national music magazines, works on music documentaries and has done liner notes for releases by Elvis Presley, Sly & the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Small Faces, Santana, Cheap Trick, Raspberries, Eric Carmen, KISS, Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield, The Babys, John Waite, The Guess Who, Jellyfish, Jefferson Airplane and others. He releases power pop albums under his own name and lives in Los Angeles. 

Articles by: Ken Sharp

Wicked Lester

Wicked Lester: how Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons failed before the success of Kiss

By Ken Sharp published

Celebrating the "west coast hippy" sound of Wicked Lester, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons' first attempt at rock'n'roll stardom

George Harrison looking out of a window

How George Harrison made the album that banished The Beatles

By Ken Sharp published

In 1970, George Harrison brought together a Who’s Who of rock to record his masterpiece, All Things Must Pass. This is the story, told by those who were there

Kiss in 1976

20 things only Kiss fanatics know about Destroyer

By Ken Sharp published

Kiss's most ambitious and celebrated album, Destroyer, was 45 years old in 2021. Think you know all there is to know? Think again

The Who in 1967

Songs about body odour and a bath full of beans: The story of The Who Sell Out

By Neil Griffith, Ken Sharp published

The Who Sell Out is A Pop Art album of dazzling music interspersed with radio-style ads and jingles and released in an iconic sleeve: Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey spill the beans

Kiss - Meet The Phantom Of The Park artwork

How Kiss met the Phantom of the Park and made rock'n'roll's worst movie

By Ken Sharp last updated

Kiss wanted to be stars of the silver screen as well as the concert stage but they couldn’t act, they had no budget, and Phantom Of The Park went horribly wrong

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix: the life and times of a genius

By Max Bell, Johnny Black, Rob Hughes, Hugh Fielder, Ken Sharp, Mick Wall, Henry Yates last updated

Classic Rock talks to Jimi Hendrix's friends, admirers and other musicians about his life and importance

Bob Seger live in Atlanta in 1976

How Bob Seger changed the face of American Music

By Ken Sharp published

Bob Seger spent 50 years chronicling the minutia of the blue collar working man, America's heartlands, and the vagaries of love and in doing so created a world-beating musical legacy

Down To Earth: How Angel Fell From Grace

By Ken Sharp last updated

Onstage illusion! Playboy Bunnies! White spandex! It's been over 40 years since Angel's debut, but whatever happened to the Kiss stable-mates who Gene Simmons refused to share a stage with?

Steven Tyler having his hair and close attended to by two female stylists

Steven Tyler: a little bit country, a little bit rock'n'roll

By Ken Sharp published

Aerosmith’s frontman Steven Tyler is the latest rock star to head to Nashville with new album We're All Someobody From Somewhere

Cheap Trick: "For us, ...Budokan was like winning the lottery"

By Ken Sharp published

Cheap Trick’s At Budokan is widely hailed as one of rock’s greatest live albums. All four Tricksters tell Classic Rock the story of big dreams, hard work and plain dumb luck

Boston: Labour Of Love

By Ken Sharp published

Driven on by one man’s perfectionism, Boston’s first album took seven painstaking years to complete. Then the band got a major-label deal – and were forced to record it all again.

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