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Lonn Friend (born July 29, 1956) is an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
. Friend is best known for his work in the late 1980s and '90s as editor of ''
RIP Magazine Larry Flynt Publications, or LFP, Inc. is an American business enterprise that owns, manages and operates the adult entertainment businesses founded by American entrepreneur Larry Flynt. Founded in 1976, two years after Flynt began publishing ''H ...
''. Friend began his career in 1982, as associate editor of ''
Hustler Magazine ''Hustler'' is a monthly pornographic magazine published by Larry Flynt Publications (LFP) in the United States. Introduced in 1974, it was a step forward from the '' Hustler Newsletter'', originally conceived by founder Larry Flynt as cheap a ...
'', the flagship journal of
Larry Flynt Publications Larry Flynt Publications, or LFP, Inc. is an American business enterprise that owns, manages and operates the adult entertainment businesses founded by American entrepreneur Larry Flynt. Founded in 1976, two years after Flynt began publishing ''H ...
(LFP). After rising to senior editor at Hustler, he transitioned to Executive Editor of '' Chic Magazine'', and then to ''RIP'' in the Spring of 1987. ''RIP'' was the first non-pornographic publication produced by LFP. Friend documented his experiences with the heroes of heavy metal in his 2006 memoir, ''Life on Planet Rock'', and released his follow-up, ''Sweet Demotion'', in 2011. He is currently the host of ''Energize: The Lonn Friend Podcast''. During his tenure at RIP, Friend documented the making of Metallica's '' The Black Album''. Friend also appeared in several documentaries profiling the band, including ''A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica,'' ''Classic Albums: Black,'' ''AURAL Amphetamine: Metallica and the Dawn of Thrash,'' and '' VH1's Behind the Music: Metallica.'' The cover art of ''The Black Album'' debuted on his ''Friend at Large'' segment for '' MTV's
Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...
'' in August 1991. ''RIP'' was the first magazine to feature a full-cover photo and story on Guns N' Roses, titled "Metal's New Supergroup," which appeared in its June 1988 issue. Guns N' Roses performed their last club gig for the third-anniversary ''RIP'' party at the Park Plaza Hotel in October 1989, prior to their four-night opening stint for
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...
. In addition to hosting his spot on ''Headbanger's Ball'', Friend helmed the syndicated Westwood One radio program, "Pirate Radio Saturday Night." He penned weekly columns for the influential industry
tip sheet A tip sheet is a publication containing the latest information, tips or predictions for a particular industry. Tip sheets are commonly published to impart business or stock market information, music industry songwriter leads, and tips on horse rac ...
s ''HITS'' and the ''Album Network'', and co-authored the ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' cover story on
Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...
from Guns N' Roses (with Jeffrey Ressner). He served as music supervisor for Adam Sandler's motion picture debut, '' Airheads''. Friend co-founded ''Maximum Golf'' magazine with former ''
Details Detail(s) or The Detail(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Details'' (film), a 2003 Swedish film * ''The Details'' (film), a 2011 American film * ''The Detail'', a Canadian television series * "The Detail" (''The Wire''), a television epis ...
''/''
Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' is an American monthly men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenne ...
'' editor Michael Caruso in 1999. Friend served as the innovative lifestyle publication's consulting editor for its year-long run. Friend composed the liner notes for Mötley Crüe's ''
Decade of Decadence A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "d ...
'', Bon Jovi's ''
One Wild Night Live 1985-2001 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
'', Dio's ''Stand Up and Shout: The Dio Anthology'', '' The Essential Iron Maiden'', Rhino/Warner Bros.' '' The Heavy Metal Box'', and most recently, his words open the special-edition collector's box set for Michael Franti & Spearhead's '' All Rebel Rockers'' (Anti/Epitaph). In the style of a high-school yearbook, Friend wrote the liner notes to the
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
box set ''Alice Cooper "Old School" (1964-1974)'' (Universal UK).. Friend is a frequent contributor to VH1, having appeared in numerous '' Behind the Music'' documentary episodes, including "Metallica," "Bon Jovi," "The Year 1987," " Red Hot Chili Peppers Ultimate Albums: Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik," "Mötley Crüe," "Anthrax," "Top 40 Hair Metal Bands of All Time" and "When Metal Ruled the World." He was featured in the October 2006 E! Entertainment's two-hour expose, "E!s 20 Acts of Love Gone Wrong," the June 2007 "
E! True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...
:
Steven Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...
and
Liv Tyler Liv Rundgren Tyler (born Liv Rundgren; July 1, 1977) is an American actress, producer, singer and former model. She began a modeling career at age 14. She later decided to focus on acting and made her film debut in ''Silent Fall'' (1994); she ...
," and consulted for and appeared in two new 2009 productions: E!'s "Rock Wives" and VH1's "Do it for the Band: The Women of the Sunset Strip." Friend also consulted on the 2010 documentary ''Rock Prophecies'' about rock photographer Robert Knight, directed by
John Chester John Chester is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and television director. His recent short films for OWN's Super Soul Sunday (including ''Saving Emma'', ''Worry for Maggie'' and ''The Orphan'') have won five Emmy Awards, for outstanding directi ...
. The U.K.'s Sexy Intellectual Productions featured Friend extensively in their recent DVD releases, ''Guns N' Roses: 2 Classic Albums Under Review (Use Your Illusion I and II)'' and ''AURAL Amphetamine: Metallica and the Dawn of
Thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) *Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...
''. Friend relocated to
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in the fall of 2003, and freelanced for several local publications including ''Las Vegas Life'', ''Las Vegas Weekly'', ''Vegas Golfer'' and ''HRH (Hard Rock Hotel)''. He returned to Los Angeles in March 2006. ''Life on Planet Rock'' (Morgan Road/Random House) was released domestically on July 11, 2006, and is in its second printing. ''Planet Rock'' was published in the U.K. through Piatkus Books. His second book, ''Sweet Demotion: How an Almost Famous Rock Journalist Lost Everything and Found Himself (Almost),'' was published by AuthorHouse in 2011. Picking up at the end of Friend's stint as an executive at Arista Records, ''Demotion'' follows his move to Las Vegas and the spiritual pursuits that shaped his further involvement in the music world. Friend co-edited, with Rob Hill, the coffee table book '' Naked Ambition: An R Rated Look at an X Rated Industry'', by celebrity photographer
Michael Grecco Michael Grecco (born May 20, 1958) is an American photographer, film director and author. Early life and education Grecco was born in the Bronx and grew up near New York City. He received his first camera (a Mamiya/Sekor 35mm single-lens reflex ...
. Published by San Francisco-based Rock Out Books, ''Naked Ambition'' was published in November 2007. As resident video archivist and board member for the Guitar Center's Hollywood Rock Walk, Friend conducted interviews in 2008 and 2009 with such notable inductees as Michelle Phillips, Lou Adler,
Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link ...
,
George Thorogood George Lawrence Thorogood (born February 24, 1950) is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Delaware. His "high-energy boogie-blues" sound became a staple of 1980s rock radio, with hits like his original songs "Bad to the ...
, Zakk Wylde,
Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Person ...
,
Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...
,
Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and H ...
,
Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...
and
Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild Style'', and write ...
of Blondie,
Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...
, the Germs, Kenny Loggins,
The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...
, Steve Vai, and others. In 2008, Friend composed artist bios and conducted electronic press interviews for several bands. In this regard, he covered Black Tide,
Rev Theory Rev Theory (formerly known as Revelation Theory) is an American rock band formed in 2002 in North Andover, Massachusetts. The band has released four studio albums: '' Truth Is Currency'' (2005), '' Light It Up'' (2008), ''Justice'' (2011) and '' ...
, Candlebox, and the multi-platinum All American Rejects. Friend contributed to the "Soapbox" column for ''
Relix Magazine ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...
'', and drafted the Metallica cover story for the December 2008 issue of '' Metal Edge''. Between 2010 and 2012, Friend composed artist bios for
Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...
featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators;
John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
; and Brazilian guitarist
Kiko Loureiro Pedro Henrique "Kiko" Loureiro (born 16 June 1972) is a Brazilian guitarist. He has been a member of several heavy metal bands, including Angra and Megadeth. Career Loureiro began studying music and playing acoustic guitar at age 11. He studie ...
. In March 2012, he launched ''Energize: The Lonn Friend Podcast'' via LA Radio Studios in San Pedro, California. In January 2014, Friend returned to Las Vegas to work on his third book. He currently freelances for Wendoh Media's ''Vegas Seven'' magazine and in February 2014 composed the cover story on noted rock & roll chef Kerry Simon. Friend contributed editorial content to Dr. Gabrielle Francis' upcoming health and fitness book, ''The Rockstar Remedy'', being published by HarperCollins in Fall 2014. The musicians he interviewed for the volume include
Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...
,
Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock an ...
, Kevin Cronin,
Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...
, Phil Collen, Orianthi,
Dave Navarro David Michael Navarro (born June 7, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Between 1993 and 1998, Navarro was the guitarist of the Red Hot Ch ...
,
Fred Coury Fred Coury (born October 20, 1967) is an American musician best known as the drummer for the glam metal band Cinderella. Coury lists Neil Peart, Peter Criss, Bobby Blotzer, John Bonham, Eric Carr, Tommy Lee and Tommy Aldridge as his drumming i ...
,
Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban American hard rock/ heavy metal bassist. He remains best known for his work with Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played ...
, Share Pedersen Ross,
Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroo ...
,
Pearl Aday Pearl Aday (born 1975) is an American singer. She is the adopted daughter of vocalist Michael Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, and was a member of his touring band Neverland Express for nine years starting in the mid-1990s. She has appeared o ...
and Serj Tankian. In 2016, Friend became a freelance contributing writer for Chicago-based, In The Loop Magazine, with articles that have included Roger Hodgson.


References


External links


Lonn Friend interview on www.neildaniels.com

Lonn Friend's social networking site
on
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Lonn Friend's social networking site
on MySpace
''Life on Planet Rock'' Book review by Matt Cale

''Energize: The Lonn Friend Podcast''
Lonn Friend's weekly podcast
Lonn Friend live review on In The Loop Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Lonn Living people American male journalists Heavy metal publications 1956 births