He made some of the greatest music that has ever been made; if any one man is to be given credit for siring rock 'n' roll, it is he
Originally published August 18, 1992
“A great artist, a great rocker, a great purveyor of schlock, a great heartthrob, a great bore, a great symbol of potency, a great ham, a great nice person, and, yes, a great American”
Originally published April 7, 1975
“Hendrix is unerring, his authority absolute. He had an off-night of his own Friday, but his off-nights are better than the best moments of most contemporary musicians. If he did make a mistake it would probably be the most exciting musical mistake of our time.”
May 1, 2020
“In the ’80s the only list that computes is pure megaplatinum — Prince and Bruce and U2 and Michael J. and Madonna, with maybe a few million-selling status symbols like Sting, Talking Heads, R.E.M., or Public Enemy tacked on for appearance’s sake.”
Originally published January 2, 1990
"Do not the dead deserve an accounting at least as irreproachable as the survivors receive with each week’s edition of Billboard?"
Originally published December 17, 1979