Latest articles by Paul Elliott
“In terms of the guitar solo, he just keeps going!”: The genius of David Gilmour – by Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett and more
Plus! Comfortably Numb or comfortably dumb? Find out with our Pink Floyd quiz challenge
“That was a big mistake. I underestimated just how difficult it would be”: When Phil Collins played drums with a Genesis tribute act
Plus: the Collins solo record that Charlie Watts bought
How a singer’s beloved pet cheated death during the making of a star-studded ’80s No.1
A dramatic story also starring Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and Elizabeth Taylor
“Lars and I saw him at the Whiskey. ‘Let’s get that guitar player… oh, he’s playing bass!’”: James Hetfield on Cliff Burton
“I feel like Cliff was my ally in the battle”
“I don’t think we’ll have to take peyote and puke like we did”: How Don Henley and Glenn Frey remembered the Eagles’ wild years
“Certainly, we don’t want to fail. We’ve never really known much failure”
“We wrote it on an old Wurlitzer piano”: When Sylvester Stallone wanted another Eye Of The Tiger, he knew who to call
“Every word in that song is chock full of meaning”
“I’m never gonna be ashamed of that song”: But Kings Of Leon frontman Caleb Followill laughed when he first sang it
“It was a hook, although I knew it didn’t really make sense”
“A metalhead had a list of names for his fanzine. Metallica was on there”: James Hetfield on Metallica’s early days
“We were out for world domination!”
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to write a song with just one chord?’”: When Neil Diamond teamed up with Robbie Robertson
“That song had to stay on that one chord to maintain the tension of the whole thing”
“I would never have played bass without him”: Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea remembers guitarist Hillel Slovak
“His guitar playing was beautiful”
“We had three prog musicians from big bands playing bubblegum songs, really”: Carl Palmer on his ’80s supergroup Asia
But he admits: “I didn’t enjoy making those silly videos”
![A classic black-and-white portrait of Queen: [left to right] Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BeB6p9kAVyYVb68o6VrwjW-840-80.jpg.webp)
“I love Ogre Battle – danga-danga, ‘Waaaaah!’”: Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith names his favourite Queen album
“It has a lot of power, it has wonderful orchestration and incredible playing”
“There were probably 20 people at that first Rush gig”: Alex Lifeson recalls the humble beginnings of his legendary band
“We didn’t have a mic stand so we used a standing lamp and taped the mic to it”
“A&M Records didn’t know we were signed to them – even though we’d done two albums for them!”: Supertramp's rise and fall
“Breakfast In America took eight months to finish – some people would call us anal!”
“I’d have to smoke a big joint to be able to listen to it!”: Fleetwood Mac star Lindsey Buckingham's unusual solo albums
“Roy Thomas Baker spent most of the time just barking orders”
“Eddie was always experimenting”: Van Halen's Michael Anthony on the band’s cult classic Women And Children First
Less surprisingly, he said “it was party time in the studio”
“All I could think about was Black Sabbath!”: How Pantera singer Phil Anselmo fell under Sabbath’s evil spell
And why he thinks that Norwegian black metal ruled in the ’90s
“Bonzo picked Harrison up and launched him into the swimming pool”: When Led Zeppelin's drummer dunked a Beatle
According to Zeppelin's manager, Harrison called it “the greatest night of my life!”
“I heard things he did with Johnny Cash. I was impressed”: How Neil Diamond scored his first No.1 album with Rick Rubin
“We went in to make demos. We didn’t go in to make a record”
“Lars had Styx and REO Speedwagon records. ‘Why are you buying this crap?’”: James Hetfield on Metallica’s early days
Plus: Hetfield's memories of his first gig – when AC/DC opened for Aerosmith
“I got up and the sun was shining, and I came up with Mr. Blue Sky”: How Jeff Lynne created his masterpiece
For a generation still mourning the loss of The Beatles, ELO were the next best thing
“The solo is his interpretation of war. Such a brilliant piece of artistry”: Slash hails a Hendrix classic
“It’s just pure, soul-wrenching emotion”
“I haven’t written anything on the new album. Bang go my royalties!”: When Bruce Dickinson was Iron Maiden’s odd man out
“There was none of me on that record – I was just AWOL mentally”
