The story of Riot, the unluckiest band in the world By Peter Makowski In the late 70s, Riot were the Great White Hopes of American rock. But that was before the public ignored them, their label disowned them, and their singer quit. And then things got really bad…
Led Zeppelin: how Celebration Day happened By Peter Makowski On December 10, 2007, Led Zeppelin took to the stage at London’s O2 Arena for one night only. Jimmy Page explains how they got there
Grand Funk Railroad: the forgotten story of a true American band By Peter Makowski Grand Funk Railroad sold out New York’s 50,000-seater Shea Stadium and headlined London’s Hyde Park. Blue-collar America adored their no-nonsense rock’n’roll music, but the band were despised by the critics
Rory Gallagher: the remarkable story of a blues brother's hot streak By Peter Makowski Between 1971 and 1974, Rory Gallagher made six incendiary albums that sealed his reputation as the People’s guitar hero. This is the story
Arthur Brown: my crazy adventures with Keith Moon, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix and more... By Peter Makowski 50 years ago, Arthur Brown burst on to the scene - and into flames - with Fire. Here he looks back over some of the people he met and worked with.
Scott Weiland: A guide to his best albums By Peter Makowski With Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver the singer helped make some of the best hard rock albums of the early 21st century
The Turbulent Story Of The Scorpions By Peter Makowski Whether it’s thinking about changing their name to Stalingrad, titling their album Virgin Killer or filling their big hit with lots of whistling, there’s always a sting in the Scorpions' tale
The Downward Spiral: How Scott Weiland And Velvet Revolver Fell To Pieces By Peter Makowski Rehab, retribution and in-fighting. After an acclaimed multi-million selling debut, the wheels quickly started coming off for Velvet Revolver and their estranged and troubled singer...
Interview: Todd Rundgren on John Lennon, Ringo Starr, New York Dolls and more By Peter Makowski He attempted to make sense of Sparks’ first band, had a very public bust-up with John Lennon, and found life surprisingly easy with Grand Funk Railroad. He's Todd Rundgren...
Interview: Meat Loaf on The Who, Joe Cocker, Edward Norton and the MC5 By Peter Makowski He saw Iggy Pop's first show, he thinks The Grateful Dead were abysmal, and he used to hang out with Grand Funk Railroad. He's Meat Loaf
Interview: Jeff Beck on Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Van Halen and more... By Peter Makowski He almost recorded an album with Sly Stone, toured with Stevie Ray Vaughan, “pissed Eric Clapton off big time”, and used to get mistaken for Mick Jagger. He's the legendary Jeff Beck
Interview: Alice Cooper on God, golf, heroes and villains By Peter Makowski Church goer, golf addict, former alcoholic, Alice Cooper has been ploughing his gore-drenched heavyrock B-movie furrow for more than 40 years, and is still showing no sign of slowing down
Deep Purple - Playing With Fire By Peter Makowski Deep Purple’s teenybopper rock irked critics and failed to conquer the charts. Then came the transformation: enter leonine singer Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Blackmore's screaming Strat...
Scott Weiland: 1967 – 2015 By Peter Makowski “There’s people that love me and there’s people that probably think I’m a prick” - Scott Weiland, Classic Rock, 2008
The Return To Heaven And Hell By Peter Makowski Dio’s Sabbath story wasn’t over when he left after 1992’s Dehumanizer. He would return for one final hurrah...
Dio: The Joker By Peter Makowski It wasn’t all about dragon-slaying, you know. On tour, Dio’s humour always shone through, whether it involved wearing a gorilla mask or being mistaken for a Mafia hitman.
Q&A: Biff Byford By Peter Makowski The NOWOBHM luminary is still leading his Saxon horde. After a decade-long eclipse during the grunge-fixated 90s and a reality TV show, he says things have never been better...
Q&A: Steve Winwood By Peter Makowski The former Spencer Davis/Traffic frontman and R&B veteran speaks about adapting to a music industry in meltdown.
Q&A: Lemmy By Peter Makowski In his early 60s and still a fixture on the summer festival circuit, the Motörhead mainman dispels some favourite rumours about drink, drugs and death.
Rainbow Rising: how Ritchie Blackmore aimed for the stars By Peter Makowski Rainbow Rising was hailed as an instant classic upon its release in 1976. Ritchie Blackmore and his band reflect on that album and their rise and fall...
Girlschool: Hit And Run Revisited By Peter Makowski Girlschool’s second album now re-recorded for the 21st century.