Latest articles by Paul Elliott
"We all adored BB, and he asked us to write something for him": The song that Whitesnake wrote for the King of the Blues
And they later did the same thing with Tina Turner
“"There is something magic in that instrument”: Billy Gibbons on why Pearly Gates is one of the greatest Les Pauls ever
All Gibson Les Paul Standards from 1959 are special but what is it about the ZZ Top frontman's Pearly Gates that makes it so unique? As Gibbons says, it might be something entirely supernatural
“I wrote it so that Joe and I could play even harder than on Hotel California”: Don Felder's heavy 'lost' Eagles song
"It had harmony parts, trading-off solos and a much harder rock edge"
“I was driven to Ritchie’s house in Surrey. That was the big test”: David Coverdale's baptism of fire with Deep Purple
“The record company said, ‘It’s too long.’ But we said, ‘We don’t care!’”: How Lynyrd Skynyrd created a legendary epic
"Ronnie said, 'Just go till I tell you to quit!'"
“I said, ‘Sorry, boys – you can’t turn this chorus down!’”: How Def Leppard created a mega-hit song in 10 days
"It was really based on rap stuff – not your standard rock song”
“If that album bombed we would have been dropped from the label!”: Kiss stars recall the album that saved the band
It's 50 years since the release of Kiss Alive!
“I think a certain amount of friction is inevitable”: How Rick Davies described the conflict that ruined Supertramp
Davies and Roger Hodgson made great music together, but it couldn’t last
“We got it on tape three hours ago – we just like hearing you guys play!”: ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons on producer Rick Rubin
Plus: how the Texan trio created something new out of an old hip-hop track
“Without Chuck Berry there wouldn't have been The Beatles or Stones”: Gene Simmons' eulogy for a rock ’n’ roll legend
Plus: the shocking stories Simmons heard from his former partner Diana Ross
“We pillaged a few things from Freddie’s solo work”: Brian May recalls how Queen' final album was created
Plus: the one thing that was 'sacrosanct' in Queen's songwriting process
“To those I inspired to start drumming, I apologise to your parents!”: A rare interview with Rush legend Neil Peart
“After 40, 45 years of playing, I wanted to push myself and open up this whole new frontier,” he said
"I wanted to make the greatest rock record that I'd ever heard": How Bruce Springsteen saved his career with Born To Run
The Boss spent six months working on the album's title track
How drummer Frank Ferrer powered Guns N’ Roses for 19 years
And why You Could Be Mine was his favourite song to play
“I said to Freddie, ‘We should be harnessing this kind of energy’”: How Queen created the mother of all rock anthems
“I was hoping it would catch on," Brian May said
Iron Maiden legend Nicko McBrain's funniest moment
His famous drum battle with two glove puppets
“I was playing the Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix gave me”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's greatest blues song
"For some reason the guitar wasn’t working through the amp," Gibbons recalled
"I saw The Beatles and it all made sense”: The singer who scored two No.1 hits with the band that had once fired him
“Music is an ever-evolving art form," he says
“Some of the guys never wanted to do that song. ‘This is crap!’”: The ’70s hit that reinvented a legendary band
A triumph for a singer who’d been doing TV ads for yoghurt and crackers
“I have none of that high-speed technical skill of a Steve Vai or a Joe Satriani”: How Brian May plays off instinct
“Freddie was pushing up the guitar more and more”
“Yngwie would walk in front of me going widdle-widdle-widdle. It was very rude”: A great singer's fights with Malmsteen
“Spend a day in my head and you’d realise how crazy I really am”: A close encounter with Ozzy Osbourne
The legendary singer's prized possessions included John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to Imagine
“In the ’80s, everybody came out with a power ballad. And we had a great one”: How a soft rock classic was created
But was that song really about a nun who sells dope to school kids?
