
Paul Elliott
Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”
Latest articles by Paul Elliott

Mother's Finest: "We were paving the way for things to happen in music but we didn’t know it"
By Paul Elliott published
Fronted by vocal powerhouse Joyce Kennedy, Mother’s Finest were simply too ahead of the game: black musicians playing rock. If they’d arrived a decade later they could have been huge

Every Steely Dan album, ranked from worst to best
By Paul Elliott published
Steely Dan boffins Donald Fagen and Walter Becker brought jazz smarts and lyrical sophistication to rock, conjuring up brainiac music that sold millions

Mother's Finest: six songs to get you started
By Paul Elliott published
Six songs to introduce you to the fierce funk-rock wizardry of Atlanta's very own Mother's Finest

Queen: the collector's edition of The Miracle is filled with treasures yet profoundly sad
By Paul Elliott published
A multi-disc box set of Queen's The Miracle, featuring six previously unreleased tracks

Every Ozzy Osbourne solo album ranked from worst to best
By Paul Elliott published
Updated A guide to the recorded work of Ozzy Osbourne: Black Sabbath frontman, rock icon, reality TV star, national treasure

Look out! Black Sabbath's Dio classics are still powerful evidence of their last great era
By Paul Elliott published
Black Sabbath's Dio-era classics Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules have been reissued as Deluxe Editions (again) but the quality still shines

10 classic Queen songs that Freddie Mercury didn't sing
By Paul Elliott last updated
The best Queen songs Freddie Mercury didn't sing

Paul McCartney: the albums outside The Beatles you should definitely own
By Paul Elliott published
It’s easy to forget that there’s more to Macca than The Beatles and the Frog Chorus: Just take a look at his rock’n’roll legacy

Queen's Brian May on The Miracle, why he loves AC/DC, and the high price of fame
By Paul Elliott published
Just four years after Live Aid, Brian May gave an interview about the band's new album, The Miracle, and revealed where Queen lost their way

Interview: Brian May talks about Queen's Miracle
By Paul Elliott last updated
In this interview from 1989, just four years after Live Aid, Brian May talks about the band's new album, The Miracle

The 10 worst albums by 10 brilliant bands
By Dom Lawson, Paul Elliott, Dave Everley, Stephen Hill last updated
Step into a world of WTF, as we round up the biggest turkeys from metal’s greatest bands

The Soundtrack Of My Life: Lars Ulrich
By Paul Elliott last updated
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich picks his records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and reveals the album that makes him bounce around

Ozzy: "With Black Sabbath Nothing Is Ever Easy. It’s Never Been Easy"
By Paul Elliott last updated
After reuniting in LA in 2011, things quickly spun out of control for Black Sabbath, Iommi's cancer, Bill Ward's controversial departure, Ozzy falling off the wagon, how did 13 ever get made?

Tony Iommi interview: 'Some Nights I'd Do Two Or Three Grams Of Coke'
By Paul Elliott last updated
Knife-carrying thug, practical joker, drug fiend and the inventor of heavy metal, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi on his life less ordinary

Blizzard Of Ozz: the wild story of the album that saved Ozzy Osbourne
By Paul Elliott last updated
In 1979, Ozzy was out of Black Sabbath and on the ropes. Then he made the two albums that saved his career – and his life

Bruce Dickinson: I Knew I'd Joined A Great Band. I Knew I Could Make It Better
By Paul Elliott last updated
From his seismic debut with the band to the defining live album of their careers and the sprawling concept album that divided fans, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson picks three of his favourites

Every Iron Maiden album – in their own words
By Paul Elliott last updated
From Number Of The Beast to The Book Of Souls, Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson and co look back at every studio album Iron Maiden have recorded

Iron Maiden's Nicko McBrain on Christianity, giving up booze, and getting older
By Paul Elliott last updated
"Imagine me trying to play Run To The Hills at fucking seventy-three years old!" Nicko McBrain might not be ready to retire yet, but he knows he's not going to go on forever...

How Iron Maiden conquered The World
By Paul Elliott last updated
The Iron Maiden story told by the "control freaks" who got them there, from East End pubs to worldwide stadiums, via sackings, internal squabbles and new business models

The 10 worst albums by 10 brilliant classic rock bands
By Geoff Barton, Sleazegrinder, Ian Fortnam, Fraser Lewry, Malcolm Dome, Jon Hotten, Hugh Fielder, Paul Elliott last updated
Even the best can get it wrong sometimes: here's the worst albums by 10 of rock's greatest bands

The 10 best Metallica songs from the 1980s
By Paul Elliott last updated
In the 1980s Metallica made some of the greatest heavy metal music of all time and became the biggest cult band in the world

Metallica’s One: the story of the song that changed thrash metal
By Paul Elliott last updated
How a song about a disfigured soldier made the biggest cult band in the world even bigger – and said goodbye to thrash metal once and for all

The Big Interview: Dave Mustaine
By Paul Elliott last updated
Dave Mustaine hit the canvas but lifted himself back up and found God, and still has the ambition to make Megadeth the biggest metal band in the world
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