Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Blender'', '' Spin'' and ''Details'' magazines. A native of

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Milton is an immediate southern suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton is located in the relatively hilly ...

, Sheffield has a bachelor's degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and master's degree (1991) from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. Sheffield lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York.

Published works

Sheffield has written eight books. His first, a memoir published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in January 2007, is titled '' Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time''. An excerpt of the book was featured in the January 2007 issue of '' GQ''. A national bestseller, the book was met with much acclaim. Sheffield's sixth book, released in April 2017, is called ''Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World''. An excerpt was published online by ''Rolling Stone.'' ''USA Today'' gave ''Dreaming the Beatles'' three and one-half (out of four) stars and called it a "charming new collection of essays." ''Spin'' added that "''Dreaming the Beatles'' is equal parts history and cultural criticism, as Sheffield draws from dozens of sources to lay down the story of how

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 ...

came to be, before writing about why any of it matters." MTV opined that "''Dreaming the Beatles'' is one of the best books about the band ever written." Sheffield won the ASCAP Foundation's Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism for ''Dreaming the Beatles'' in 2017. Sheffield's latest book, published in November 2024, about singer

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

, is entitled ''Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music.'' Writing 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 ...

,'' Amanda Hess praises his encyclopedic knowledge of Swift's music, fans, and business acumen, but especially her talent as a songwriter, saying "everything always leads back to her virtuosic writing". ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' says "the unrestrained delight with which Sheffield captures his subject, ixesa fan’s exuberance with a music critic’s nuanced analysis." ''

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 ...

'' similarly calls it "an affectionate homage from an ardent fan".

Bibliography

* 2007 – '' Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time''. * 2009 – ''Bande Originale (French Edition)''. * 2010 – ''Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut''. * 2013 – ''Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke''. * 2016 – ''On Bowie''. * 2017 – ''Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World''. * 2019 – ''The Wild Heart of Stevie Nicks (Audible book)''. * 2024 – ''Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffield, Rob 1966 births Living people American music critics American music journalists Rolling Stone people Journalists from Boston American memoirists People from Milton, Massachusetts Yale University alumni University of Virginia alumni