Bill Flanagan (born January 14, 1955) is an American author, television executive and radio host. He was born in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and graduated from

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 ' ...

in 1977. His books include ''Written in My Soul'' (1986), ''Last of the Moe Haircuts'' (1986), ''U2 at the End of the World'' (1995), and the novels ''A&R'' (2000), ''New Bedlam'' (2007), ''Evening's Empire'' (2010), and ''Fifty in Reverse'' (2020). He is the screenwriter for the documentary ''Jimmy Carter: Rock n Roll President'' (August 2020) and produced Audible's best-seller ''Breakshot: James Taylor'' (2020) as well as Audible projects with St. Vincent: “St. Vincent: Words + Music” and Smokey Robinson (2020). From 1995 until 2015 he was an executive at MTV Networks, retiring as Executive Vice President of the Viacom Music Group. As EVP/Editorial Director of

MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...

, Flanagan oversaw the series ''

VH1 Storytellers ''Storytellers'' is a television music series produced by the VH1 network. In each episode, artists perform in front of a (mostly small and intimate) live audience, and tell stories about their music, writing experiences and memories, somewhat ...

'' and ''

CMT Crossroads ''CMT Crossroads'' is an American television program broadcast on CMT that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres such as alternative rock, pop, R&B, Rock, soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, ...

''. He has also worked on ''

VH1's Legends ''Legends'' (aka ''VH1's Legends'') is a music biography television series on VH1. Originally sponsored by AT&T Corporation, this series documents those artists (living or dead) who have made a significant contribution to music history to be pr ...

'', ''VH1 Archives'', ''Hotel MTV'', and many other series and specials. He was one of the producers of

The Concert for New York City The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert that took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11 attacks. Aside from performing for charity, the concert honored the first responders from the New Yor ...

after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and has produced, co-produced, or executive produced two televised concerts from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

; ''The Beatles Revolution'' for ABC; ''Elvis Lives'' for NBC; and VH1 specials with

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, and

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

. Flanagan currently hosts four series on

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merger ...

Channels - ''Flanagan's Wake'' on Tom Petty Radio, ''Written In My Soul'' on Volume, and ''The Fab Fourum'' and ''Northern Songs'' on the Beatles Channel. Flanagan acts as Ombudsman of the

Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States). * Sundance Channel (Canada) * Sundance Channel (Netherlands) * Sundance Channel (Europe) Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV Sundance TV ...

series '' Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...''. He also appears on air as an essayist on ''

CBS News Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (frequently shortened to ''Sunday Morning'') is an American television newsmagazine that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, and originally hosted by ...

''. He has written for ''Rolling Stone'', ''The New York Times'', ''Esquire'', ''Spy'', ''Men's Journal'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''GQ'', ''Commonweal'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''The Village Voice''.

References

''. June 5, 2000 *Flanagan, Bill
"Up Close & Personal with GRAMMY Winning Producer Steve Lillywhite"
Grammy365. January 19, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Bill Living people 20th-century American novelists American television executives 1955 births Brown University alumni American writers about music 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers

References

Further reading