Anthony DeCurtis
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Anthony DeCurtis (born June 25, 1951) is an American author and music critic, who has written for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
,'' ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', '' Relix'' and many other publications.


Career

DeCurtis is a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', where his work has appeared for more than thirty years. He received a B.A. from
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
in 1974 and a Ph.D in American literature from
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
in 1981 and is a Distinguished Lecturer in the creative writing program at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. He collaborated with
Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...
on Davis's autobiography, ''The Soundtrack of My Life'', which was published by
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
in February 2013 and rose to number two on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. He appears in '' Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives'', a documentary based on the book that opened the
Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
in April 2017. His biography of
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...
, titled ''Lou Reed: A Life'', was published by
Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...
on 10 October 2017. DeCurtis's essay accompanying the 1988
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
box set '' Crossroads'' won a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
in the "Best Album Notes" category, and on three occasions he has won ASCAP's Deems Taylor awards for excellence in writing about music. He has appeared as a commentator on
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
,
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
, the '' Today Show'', and many other news and entertainment programs. In the 1990s, DeCurtis served as the moderator on the VH1 show '' Four on the Floor'' and as editorial director for the channel's nonfiction programming. He has served as a member of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
nominating committee for more than twenty years. From 2006 through June 2008, DeCurtis directed and helped design the arts-and-culture curriculum at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He was an editorial consultant and the primary interviewer for "Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound," a documentary for the PBS series '' American Masters''. DeCurtis appeared in the 2011 documentary ''Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals'' which was featured on
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and described as “The untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica”. In 2015, DeCurtis joined the judging panel of the 14th annual Independent Music Awards to assist independent musicians' careers. He was a judge for the 7th, 8th, 9th,Top40-Charts.com
/ref> 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Independent Music Awards.


Works


Author

*''In Other Words: Artists Talk About Life and Work'' Milwaukee, WI : Leonard, 2005. , *''Rocking My Life Away: Writing About Music and Other Matters '', Durham : Duke University Press, 1998. , *''Lou Reed : a life'' New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2017. ,


Editor

*''Present Tense: Rock & Roll and Culture'' Durham, North Carolina : Duke University Press, 1991. ; , *''Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer'' New York : Scribner, 2009. , *''Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll'' Paw Prints 2008. , *''Rolling Stone images of rock & roll'' Boston, Massachusetts; London : Little, Brown and Company, 1995. , *Anthony DeCurtis; James Henke; Holly George-Warren; et al., '' Rolling Stone Album Guide.'' New York: Random House, 1992. ,


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Decurtis, Anthony 1951 births Living people American music critics American music journalists University of Pennsylvania faculty The New York Times journalists Indiana University Bloomington alumni Grammy Award winners Hunter College alumni