Tim Riley (born 1960) is a music journalist who reviews pop and classical music for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and contributes regularly to the

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

. His byline has also appeared in ''

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 ...

'',

truthdig Truthdig is an American alternative news website that provides a mix of long-form articles, blog items, curated links, interviews, arts criticism, and commentary on current events that is delivered from a politically progressive, left-leaning ...

, the ''Huffington Post'', the ''Washington Post'', ''Slate'' and ''Salon''.

Career

His first book was ''Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary'' (Knopf/Vintage 1988), a critique of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' music, which ''The New York Times'' said brought "new insight to the act we've known for all these years". His television appearances include ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...

'', and ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...

''. Since 2009, he has taught digital journalism at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

in Boston.

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

sponsored Riley as its critic-in-residence in 2008. Riley gave a keynote address at Beatles 2000, the first international academic conference in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

, Finland. Since then, he has given lectures on censorship in the arts and rock history. His subsequent projects include the music metaportal Riley Rock Index and a biography of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

(Hyperion, 2011), which was included in ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

list of the Best Nonfiction of 2011.

Books

*''Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary'' (1988), *''Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary'' (1992), *''

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Illustrated'' (1992), *''Fever: How Rock 'n' Roll Transformed Gender in America'' (2004), *''Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music - The Definitive Life'' (2011), *''What Goes On: The Beatles, Their Music, and Their Time'' ( Walter Everett and Tim Riley, 2019),

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Tim Living people 1960 births Writers from Boulder, Colorado People from Concord, Massachusetts American music critics American music historians American male non-fiction writers American biographers Oberlin College alumni Eastman School of Music alumni Emerson College faculty Rock music historians