Stephen Davis is an American

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

. Davis was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. He began his career writing for the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and ...

'' in 1970.Davis, Stephen (1985), ''Hammer of the Gods''. New York:

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

. , p. 360 His

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

has appeared in ''

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 ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' and numerous other papers and magazines. Davis says his love of music started when he was invited by a priest to join the church's choir. Davis has been described as "perhaps America's best-known rock biographer", having written biographies of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

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 ...

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

, and

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

, among others.Caleb Daniloff,
Rock from Axl to Zep
, ''BU Today'', October 21, 2008. However, his biographies often contain incorrect facts and fabricated versions of the truth. Some of his subjects, including Led Zeppelin, have come out about the books inaccuracies. Some have refused to communicate Davis altogether. Mat Snow, "Apocalypse Then", Q magazine, December 1990, p, 79. Davis lives in

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and an affluent suburb of Boston. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and architect Buckminster Fuller. ...

Bibliography

*''Reggae Bloodlines: In Search of the Music and Culture of Jamaica'', with photographs by Peter Simon, Da Capo Press (1977), 1992, *''Reggae International'', with photographs of Peter Simon, 1982, R&B Books, USA, *''Bob Marley: The Biography'', 1983, A Barker, *'' Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga'', Berkley Publishing Group (1985), 1997, *''Hammer of the Gods: "Led Zeppelin" Unauthorised'', Macmillan, 2005, *''Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac'', by

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of th ...

, William Morrow & Company, 1990, *''

Jajouka Jajouka, Jahejouka or Zahjoukah (In Tifinagh: ⵣⴰⵀⵊⵓⴽⴰ) (جوجوكة or جهجوكة) is a village in the Ahl-Srif mountains in the southern end of the Rif Mountains, Morocco. The mountains are named after the Ahl-Srif tribe who po ...

Rolling Stone: A Fable of Gods and Heroes'', Random House Trade, 1993, *''

This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band ''This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band'' is the 1993 autobiography of actor and musician Levon Helm, focusing on his career as a member of the rock group the Band. The book, written with music journalist Stephen Davis, tr ...

'', with

, Plexus Publishing, 1994, *''Bob Marley: Conquering Lion of Reggae'', Plexus Publishing, 1994, *''Bob Marley'', revised edition, Schenkman Books, 1998, *'' Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith'', with

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, 1997, *''Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-Year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones'', Broadway, USA, 2001, *''Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend'', Ebury Press, 2004, *'' Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses'', Gotham Press, 2008, *Introduction of ''The First Rasta:

Leonard Howell Leonard Percival Howell (16 June 1898 – 23 January 1981), also known as The Gong or G.G. Maragh (for ''Gangun Guru''), was a Jamaican religious figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born into an Anglican family. He was one ...

and the Rise of Rastafarianism'', by

Helene Lee Helene or Hélène may refer to: People *Helene (given name), a Greek feminine given name *Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda *Helene, a figure in Greek mythology who was a friend of Aphrodite and helped her seduce Adonis *Helene (Ama ...

, Chicago Review Press, 2005, *''LZ-'75: The Lost Chronicles of Led Zeppelin's 1975 American Tour'', Gotham Books, 2010, *''Please Please Tell Me Now: The Duran Duran Story'', Hachette Books, 2021,

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American biographers American male biographers American music journalists Reggae journalists Boston University alumni Journalists from New York City Historians from New York (state) {{US-music-journalist-stub