Alan Light

Alan Light (born August 4, 1966) is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for Rolling Stone and the editor-in-chief for both Vibe and Spin.

Early life

Light grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Cincinnati Country Day School. His mother was a dance reviewer for the local newspaper. He graduated from Yale University in 1988, majoring in American Studies, and wrote his senior thesis on Licensed to Ill by the Beastie Boys.

Career

Light had been an intern at Rolling Stone during their 20th anniversary year while still a student. He later joined the staff as a fact checker in 1989, becoming a senior writer in 1990. In 1993, he became the founding music editor of Vibe magazine, becoming editor-in-chief in 1994. In 1999 he became editor-in-chief for Spin magazine. He left Spin in March 2002. He then worked as music reviewer on radio station WFUV, and served as music correspondent on NPR show Weekend America. He writes regularly for The New York Times.

Light has worked as consultant for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was a judge for the 4th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2005, and subsequently for the 11th, 12th and 13th Annual Independent Music Awards. Starting in 2016 Light is one of the mainstay hosts of the newly created Volume music talk channel on Sirius XM.

Light has also been involved in assisting homeless people with the Housing Works AIDS charity.

Selected bibliography

• Tupac Amaru Shakur: 1971–1996 (with Quincy Jones), 1998
• The Vibe History of Hip Hop, 1999
• The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys, 2006
• My Cross To Bear (by Gregg Allman, with Alan Light), 2012
• The Holy or the Broken – Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah', 2012

• Kaminer, Michael (August 15, 2012). "Gregg Allman's Ghost Writer". The Jewish Daily Forward. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2014.