Craig Seymour (born November 25, 1968) is an American writer, photographer, celebrity interviewer, music critic and former stripper. He was born in
Washington, D.C. He has written for ''
The Washington Post'', ''
Entertainment Weekly'', ''
Vibe'', and ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'', among other publications, and has served as pop music critic for ''
The Buffalo News'' and ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. He holds a
Ph.D. in
American Studies from the
University of Maryland, College Park in
College Park. Seymour was formerly a professor of
English at the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Associate Professor of
Journalism at
Northern Illinois University. He lives in
Chicago.
He has interviewed and profiled some of the biggest names in music, including
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
,
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
, and
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...
, who granted him numerous interviews. Seymour has also been a music analyst for
CNN's ''
Headline News
HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming.
The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...
''. He is a native of
Washington, D.C.
Book — ''All I Could Bare''
As a graduate student at the University of Maryland in the 1990s, Seymour started frequenting the strip clubs in Washington D.C. while writing his master's thesis: "Desire and Dollar Bills: An Ethnography of a Gay Male Striptease Club." He used these experiences to write the book ''All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C.'' Seymour stated that stripping gave him the confidence he needed to interview big stars like
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
.
In an interview with ''
Dallas Voice'', Seymour credited his stripping career with "the ease I had asking celebrities extremely personal questions, especially those having to do with sex and relationships. After all, when someone is playing with your dick in public, it’s not only potentially awkward for you, the one being played with, it can also be weird for the person doing the playing, because he is exposing his desires so nakedly in front of other people."
Book — ''Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross''
This book chronicles the life of singer and producer
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...
, including his lifelong love of music and his infatuations with girl groups, particularly
Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles and
Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...
. Seymour includes mini-profiles of the many musicians who helped Vandross along his way.
When Seymour pressed Vandross in a 1998 interview to open up about his sexuality, including rumours that he was gay, Vandross told him "You're trying to zero in on something that you are never ever gonna get. Look at you, just circling the airport. You ain't never gonna land."
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Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
The official Craig Seymour website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Craig
Living people
1968 births
American gay writers
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
21st-century American LGBT people