Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist based in metro Detroit. In addition to Loudwire, he contributes regularly to Billboard, Ultimate Classic Rock, Media News Group, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer/Cleveland.com, Consequence, Music Connection, VenuesNow, United Stations Radio Networks and others. He reports every Friday on music news with Bob & Brian in the Morning on WHQG-FM in Milwaukee and periodically with the Drew & Mike podcast out of Detroit. He is the co-founder and co-producer of the Emmy Award-winning Detroit Music Awards. He was the founding editor of the MusicHound Essential Album Guide series and has co-written and edited books about Neil Young, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Rock & Roll Myths and, forthcoming, Alice Cooper.
Gary Graff
50 Years Ago: Neil Diamond Catches Fire With ‘Hot August Night’
Before this, he was a known and respected singer and songwriter with no real stage rep.
40 Years Ago: George Clinton Reboots P-Funk With ‘Computer Games’
"Solo" debut featured several Parliament-Funkadelic personnel and spawned R&B hit single "Atomic Dog."
How ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ Saved Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’
Costly LP was dead in the water — then the 11th-hour single exploded in the U.S.
40 Years Ago: Billy Joel Escapes Writer’s Block With ‘Pressure’
A secretary's comment helped spark his seventh Top 20 single.
50 Years Ago: America Sparks the Kinks’ ‘Everybody’s in Show-Biz’
The country that banned the group in 1969 served as inspiration for 1972 album.
How Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston Wound Up on ‘Dirty Dancing’ LP
"It was completely out of left field, to be honest with you," singer says of appearing on soundtrack to 1987 film.
40 Years Ago: Michael McDonald Steps Out With ‘If That’s What It Takes’
"I was very comfortable being a band guy," the former Doobie Brothers star admitted.
35 Years Ago: Billy Joel Makes History With Soviet Union Shows
"You never could have told me I'd be playing rock 'n' roll in Russia," the Piano Man marveled.
50 Years Ago: Styx Forms
"We were just a mixture that happened to come together in Chicago and ultimately find a sound that worked," says guitarist James "J.Y." Young.
30 Years Ago: How Queen Were Reborn at Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
Tearjerking concert showed there might be more ahead for the band.