
Neil Crossley
Neil Crossley is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, The Times, The Independent and the FT. Neil is also a singer-songwriter, fronts the band Furlined and was a member of International Blue, a ‘pop croon collaboration’ produced by Tony Visconti.
Latest articles by Neil Crossley

“I don’t think we would’ve found any success had someone else been the lead singer”: A rock classic that’s now hit over two billion streams
By Neil Crossley published
How John Fogerty created Creedence Clearwater Revival’s best-loved song

“When we went to collect the Grammy for Song of the Year, I was thinking, ’How did this happen?’”: This No.1 hit is the pinnacle of yacht rock
By Neil Crossley published
When Michael McDonald teamed up with Kenny Loggins, there was magic in the air

“When we go into that song, everything changes. It’s like God walks through the room”: The anthem that drove U2 half mad
By Neil Crossley published
During the making of The Joshua Tree, half of the time was spent on this one track

“It was John’s original inspiration, I think my melody, I think my guitar riff”: The story of one of The Beatles’ most poignant songs
By Neil Crossley published
It was unique in its musical and lyrical sensibilities

“They needed something slow for the romantic scenes with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis”: An ’80s classic from Top Gun
By Neil Crossley published
“Giorgio could have farted and I would have sung it!”

“I walked in… and Joni Mitchell was in baby blue pyjamas”: How a weird dream inspired the New Radicals’ classic ’90s hit
By Neil Crossley published
And the song was so good it convinced Joni not to quit the music industry

“It’s a perfect song. Bonnie really conveys the drama”: How a classic power ballad was created
By Neil Crossley published
“It makes you feel like you're a Norseman in a blizzard”

“The first three times I performed it in public, I burst into tears”: Joni Mitchell's era-defining classic Woodstock
By Neil Crossley published
An anthem inspired by the legendary music festival – by an artist who wasn’t actually there

“Even a baby can sing, ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene’”: How Dolly Parton created a country classic
By Neil Crossley published
“I was playing guitar pretty seriously back then,” Dolly said

“I just was not expecting the look on people’s faces”: The controversial Tori Amos song that her record company hated – before a remix hit No.1
By Neil Crossley published
And was this song really an attack on Courtney Love?

“It’s a song that I love, because I didn’t compromise when I wrote it at all”: The making of Lana Del Rey’s sleeper hit
By Neil Crossley published
“I felt happy and started writing about how sad and gorgeous the summertime felt to me”

“It was a terrible record to make. The arrangement’s so weird”: How John ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp created a classic '80s No.1
By Neil Crossley published
His motto: “Write about something that matters to people, man!”

“It was too dark, too personal, too risky, not commercial”: The story of Lana Del Rey’s breakthrough hit
By Neil Crossley published
And as soon the adulation began, a backlash kicked in…

“I didn’t even want it on the album”: How Alanis Morissette created her biggest hit
By Neil Crossley published
“I see words as paint, so I play with them," she said

“It's a sad song because it's all about the unattainable”: The ballad that sparked the breakup of The Beatles
By Neil Crossley published
Featuring "atrocious" bass-playing by John Lennon

“I asked if there was another way of expressing whether God was ‘just a slob like one of us’”: Inside a ’90s classic
By Neil Crossley published
"I knew that we were going to be hearing this for the rest of our lives”

"The greatest pop record ever made”: How The Beatles created Strawberry Fields Forever – John Lennon's masterpiece
By Neil Crossley published
Lennon called it “psychoanalysis set to music”

“There’s something to that song that touches people”: The Fleetwood Mac classic that Stevie Nicks wrote in 10 minutes!
By Neil Crossley published
Nicks’ performance of the song on stage every night “was like an exorcism”

“In operas, if you have a double aria, it's what the woman does that really matters. The man lies, the woman tells the truth": The story of Fairytale Of New York
By Neil Crossley published
MusicRadar looks back on one of Shane MacGowan's most enduring and beloved achievements

“I have only flashes of making it”: How David Bowie reinvented his music with a song he could barely remember recording
By Neil Crossley published
A dazzling epic that ushered in Bowie’s new persona, the Thin White Duke

“When the music stopped I found myself still playing that riff”: How Tori Amos created the hit song Cornflake Girl
By Neil Crossley published
Its memorable infectious hooks belie a dark lyrical core

“Writing a Bond song is a bit of an accolade”: How Paul McCartney reunited with George Martin to create Live And Let Die
By Neil Crossley published
It was the first rock song to open a Bond film

How a song rejected three times by The Beatles became the centrepiece of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass
By Neil Crossley published
At one point Harrison considered offering the song to Frank Sinatra
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.

