Niall Doherty

Niall Doherty

Niall Doherty is a writer for The Guardian, Variety and Classic Rock, and co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former editors of Q magazine Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. Niall has written for NME, X-Ray Magazine and XFM Online and interviewed some of music’s biggest stars, including Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, St Vincent, The 1975, Depeche Mode, Radiohead and many more.

Articles by: Niall Doherty

The Cure in 1987

“In my own mind there have been five bands called The Cure that I’m in”: Robert Smith on the ever-changing line-up of his goth trailblazers

By Niall Doherty published

In 2002, Smith looked back over the line-up changes and sonic transformations of his band

Zack De La Rocha at Download, 2010

"I became obsessed with completely reinventing my wheel": What ever happened to Zack de la Rocha's two-decades-in-the-making debut album?

By Niall Doherty published

Trent Reznor, DJ Shadow, Run The Jewels and more have worked with Zack de la Rocha on his debut solo album, but no-one is confident that we'll ever get to hear it

Jann Wenner in 2022

"It's staggering, but not surprising": Living Colour's Vernon Reid calls out Jann Wenner for the "erasure" of black and female artists in his book The Masters

By Niall Doherty published

Rolling Stone magazine's founder Jann Wenner is under fire for what he admits were "comments that diminished the contributions, genius, and impact of Black and women artists"

Depeche Mode in 1988

“It took an hour for the band to break back into their own press conference”: 30 years ago today, Depeche Mode hosted the first ever online Q&A. It didn’t go well

By Niall Doherty published

On September 20, 1993 Depeche Mode kickstarted a new era of fan interaction... or tried to, at least

Zwan in happier times.

“I got snookered in by bad people… what I would call cataclysmic behavioural stuff”: How it all went wrong for Billy Corgan’s post-Smashing Pumpkins 'supergroup' Zwan

By Niall Doherty published

Looking back on the short and turbulent story of Zwan, a band where things got so bad that it had Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan hankering for the relative harmony of his old group

New Order in 1986

“Bernard is absolutely furious and it's all live on television”: New Order look back on the band’s most disastrous TV appearance ever

By Niall Doherty published

New Order had a string of technical snafus when appearing on British music show Rock Around The Clock in 1984

The Strokes in New York

"Poor Nigel Godrich was in a state": why The Strokes 'lost' follow-up to Is This It recorded with Radiohead’s producer Was Not It

By Niall Doherty published

In 2002, The Strokes were working out how to follow-up their successful debut album Is This It, but working with Nigel Godrich hit a brick wall

Shirley Manson in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

“I know what’s like to be an unfeeling bitch bent on revenge so it came naturally to me”: Garbage’s Shirley Manson on the time she played a Terminator

By Niall Doherty published

"I literally thought I was gonna have a nervous breakdown!" Garbage singer Shirley Manson on starring in the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show

Bob Dylan performing at Guitar Legends 1991

“I said, We’ll learn it, and then he played it differently every time!” Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera on the night Bob Dylan gave him the run around

By Niall Doherty published

Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera was tasked with rehearsing Bob Dylan for the epic Guitar Legends '91 concert in Seville. It was a challenge

Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell in 2014n

“Eddie’s singing on it changed the feeling of the lyrics, it became more meaningful”: the inside story of Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell's duet on Hunger Strike

By Niall Doherty published

How Pearl Jam and Soundgarden's singers collaborated on the standout track from Temple Of The Dog's self-titled debut

Wolfgang Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen in 2015

"Everyone thinks my dad woke me up and went 'practice your scales!' but I taught myself": Wolfgang Van Halen on going his own way when it came to learning the guitar

By Niall Doherty published

The guitarist might be son of one of rock's all-time great players, but he never took lessons from his dad

Wolfgang Van Halen in 2021

“I can’t believe I pulled that off”: Wolfgang Van Halen on playing Van Halen classics for the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert – and why he’ll never cover his dad’s band again

By Niall Doherty published

The guitarist has no plans to play anything from his dad's catalogue in the future.

Max Webster in their heyday

"Rush taught us you should make your own decisions": Canadian rockers Max Webster on how Geddy Lee & co. took them under their wing

By Niall Doherty published

The bands shared a manager and producer but the cult rockers couldn't match Rush's success

Bryan Adams in 1989

“I didn’t know it was going to be a hit”: Bryan Adams on the making of the mega-selling (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

By Niall Doherty published

The 1991 hit has sold over 15 million copies, but its creator Bryan Adams thought it was just a “pretty love song”

Pink Floyd in 1973

100 lucky Pink Floyd fans will get the chance to have their actual brainwaves monitored while listening to Pink Floyd

By Niall Doherty published

Fancy seeing what your brain is doing while you're listening to a Pink Floyd classic? Then do we have news for you

Eddie Van Halen and son Wolfgang in 2012

"Him not having any idea that Eddie Van Halen just took his picture was super funny": The night a Tool fan unwittingly got a rock legend to take a photo of him

By Niall Doherty published

Wolfgang Van Halen and his dad had been to see Tool at LA's Staples Center

Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck in 1984

“Jeff was a great guy, but he wasn’t a great bandleader”: Sir Rod Stewart recalls his time singing in the Jeff Beck Group

By Niall Doherty published

Rod Stewart says he had some issues getting paid on time when he joined Jeff Beck’s fledgling group

Tina Turner and Bryan Adams in 1985

“I had to say to her: “Tina, it’s not really working…”: Bryan Adams recalls duetting with Tina Turner on an 80s classic

By Niall Doherty published

The pair collaborated on a song from Bryan Adams' 1984 album Reckless

Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart in 1993

“A man without a hobby is lost”: Sir Rod Stewart tells Bryan Adams how his model railroad collection keeps him occupied

By Niall Doherty published

Model-railroad obsessive Rod Stewart and photographer Bryan Adams reflect on the importance of sidelines away from music

Bad Company in 1974

“Peter Grant put us right where Led Zeppelin were... We went into the arenas overnight”: Paul Rodgers on the meteoric rise of Bad Company

By Niall Doherty published

Singer Paul Rodgers on the glory days of travelling on private jets and arriving at gigs in limousines

Ozzy Osbourne in 2020

“I said to Sharon, ‘I think I’ve broken my neck’”: Ozzy Osbourne on the night he got the injury that forced him to retire from touring

By Niall Doherty published

The Black Sabbath frontman details the ongoing spinal injuries that meant he had to quit touring earlier this year

Thom Yorke and Michael Stipe

Watch R.E.M's Michael Stipe and Radiohead's Thom Yorke swap bands for one night only in this rare archive footage

By Niall Doherty published

Check out rare footage of the Radiohead's frontman and R.E.M.'s frontman swapping bands

The Clash in 1982

“I don’t think they envisaged the madness and chaos...”: How The Clash started falling apart while shooting their Rock The Casbah video

By Niall Doherty published

In the wake of Combat Rock, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were at loggerheads: The Clash would not survive

R.E.M. in 1994

“It’s a song about River Phoenix, wanting to share an experience with him that I couldn't because he had died”: R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe on the song he wrote for his late friend River Phoenix

By Niall Doherty published

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe wrote the lyrics to Departure whilst the band were on their massive Monster tour

Robert Smith and Reeves Gabrels at Bowie's 50th birthday gig, 1997

“There’s two days missing from my life. Apparently, we had a really good time!” That time The Cure's Robert Smith went on a two-day bender with David Bowie's guitarist, then offered him a job

By Niall Doherty published

Robert Smith and future Cure guitarist Reeves Gabrels got together in 1997 to rehearse for David Bowie’s 50th birthday gig, then hit the town to celebrate. Things got messy

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