Articles by Niall Doherty

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleagues Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more. Radiohead was only for eight minutes but he still counts it.

Articles by: Niall Doherty

“Even Bowie must have thought, ‘Hang on, these guys have appeared out of nowhere, how did that happen?!’”: Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera on the meteoric rise of the glam-rock trailblazers

By Niall Doherty published 20 April 24

The group went from zero to heroes when their self-titled debut blew up big in 1972

“I remember seeing my first rock legend snorting cocaine in the bathroom, like, ‘Oh, I’ve heard about this’”: Foo Fighters’ Nate Mendel on the night they played at David Bowie’s epic 50th birthday bash

By Niall Doherty published 20 April 24

The Foos joined Robert Smith, Kim Gordon, Lou Reed and more for a triumphant night at Madison Square Garden

“I started watching people like the Pope - when he turns up you know he’s in the room!”: Skindred frontman Benji Webbe on how he became metal’s most flamboyant frontman

By Niall Doherty published 20 April 24

And it’s not just onstage, either – the singer says sometimes he’ll do the gardening in one of his sequinned jackets

"He was one of those people that I knew I would listen to”: Muse's Matt Bellamy on the time they worked with Mutt Lange

By Niall Doherty published 14 April 24

The Back In Black producer was behind the mixing desk for the trio's 2015 record Drones

"Carlos Santana told me I was like a shaman on stage and he wanted to do a band with me": Gavin Rossdale's stories of Keanu Reeves, David Bowie, Bono and more

By Niall Doherty published 11 April 24

He's been bitten by Shirley Manson, sung on stage with Alice In Chains, spent 15 hours a day for months with Tom Jones, and is pals with Robert Downey Jr. He’s Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, and these are his stories

"He was drunk out of his mind and he asked me to make out with him": Billy Corgan on how he became a fan of The Cure... and the first time he met Robert Smith

By Niall Doherty published 6 April 24

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman and Cure leader went on to become fast friends

“It was so embarrassing, it was terrible”: Muse on their most galling onstage malfunction

By Niall Doherty published 6 April 24

The trio have a knack for the spectacular, but sometimes the spectacular backfires…

“We started out with an aim to annoy!”: Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil on the band’s early days

By Niall Doherty published 6 April 24

The Scottish trio will revisit their first three records with a series of shows in October

“It was the loudest thing I’d ever heard in my entire life”: Jet’s Nic Cester on the time he auditioned to be the new singer in AC/DC

By Niall Doherty published 2 April 24

The Jet frontman was in the running when Brian Johnson was ruled out of the Rock Or Bust tour in 2016

“It’s about a beautiful ménage à trois and you can’t beat that, can you?” Perry Farrell on what he thinks is Jane’s Addiction's most underrated song

By Niall Doherty published 1 April 24

Look away now if you get awkward about rock stars talking about their threesomes...

"My dad said, 'Turn off the demo, just play me it on acoustic guitar and sing it'": Inhaler's Eli Hewson on the advice he got from his dad, Bono

By Niall Doherty published 31 March 24

The Inhaler frontman also recalls the famous faces who visited the family home when he was a kid

“Watching David Byrne work was so pivotal”: St. Vincent on what she learned from working with the Talking Heads leader

By Niall Doherty published 30 March 24

The pair collaborated on the 2012 album Love This Giant

"Get the off my stage before I punch you in the ing face": Ten times a band stopped a gig to lambast a member of their own crowd

By Niall Doherty published 30 March 24

Shoe-throwing, stopping fights, people chatting, stage invaders... it's tough up there for your heroes

“Taylor wanted to write a song for a friend of ours who was going through a bad time”: Perry Farrell on the time him and Taylor Hawkins teamed up to record a track for a pal

By Niall Doherty published 29 March 24

The Jane’s Addiction singer and late Foo Fighters drummer released Mend back in 2021

"We were a performance art troupe that played pop songs. There was this element of wanting to destroy rock": meet Bodega, the next NYC band who could be your life

By Niall Doherty published 27 March 24

"We definitely ruffled some feathers early on": Bodega, a band not afraid of being very annoying indeed

“We’re still making records because we think we’re the best band in the world”: The Jesus and Mary Chain may not have destroyed the music industry as they had hoped, but they gave it a damn good shot

By Niall Doherty published 26 March 24

God bless The Jesus and Mary Chain

“I went home sore cos I was moshing!”: Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA on his favourite rock records

By Niall Doherty published 24 March 24

The Wu-Tang leader is a big fan of System Of A Down and Clutch…

Ten times Billy Corgan collaborated with his heroes

By Niall Doherty published 23 March 24

The Smashing Pumpkins leader has racked up some impressive guest spots over the years

“The closest thing I can compare it to is the film Gladiator”: Muse’s Matt Bellamy on what it’s like being at the centre of an enormodome rock show

By Niall Doherty published 17 March 24

The Muse frontman should know, his band have done their fair share...

“The pearl is the little organism that has taken the shit and turned it into something beautiful. Maybe that’s part of what we’ve been able to do.” Eddie Vedder on how Pearl Jam got through their toughest moments

By Niall Doherty published 17 March 24

There have been a lot of hurdles to get over in the rock legends' 34-year-career...

"He just set me on fire": St. Vincent on working with Dave Grohl on her forthcoming new album

By Niall Doherty published 17 March 24

The Foo Fighters leader is behind the kit on two tracks on the record

“I find it irresistible to play the curmudgeonly old vampire”: the late, great Mark Lanegan on why it’s important to keep your sense of humour

By Niall Doherty published 16 March 24

The former Screaming Trees singer used to enjoy a bit of needle on social media...

“That was it for me, a rock god lead guitarist playing on it”: how Metallica’s Kirk Hammett helped a dance classic to come full circle

By Niall Doherty published 16 March 24

The Metallica man collaborated with techno duo Orbital for a song on the soundtrack to Spawn

“I don’t think Joe would’ve been happy retreading any steps he’d made already”: Paul Simonon on why The Clash never reunited

By Niall Doherty published 16 March 24

The Clash bassist added that he still keeps in touch with his old bandmates

Queen announce deluxe edition, multi-format releases of Queen Rock Montreal

By Niall Doherty published 15 March 24

The rock icons’ landmark show arrives in various expansive formats in May

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Niall Doherty

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