
Niall Doherty
Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleagues Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more. Radiohead was only for eight minutes but he still counts it.
Latest articles by Niall Doherty

The alt-rock veterans that Thom Yorke fanboyed over who helped steer Radiohead to greatness
By Niall Doherty published
The Athens, Georgia quartet had hand-picked a stellar support bill on the UK leg of the Monster tour, but there was one group to which they became mentors and friends

The story of Paramore's debut album and how it forced the pop-punk scene to take a long, hard look at itself
By Niall Doherty published
As All We Know Is Falling turns 20, we look back at the record that introduced Hayley Williams and her band to the world

Watch Ghost dedicate Madison Square Garden show to Ozzy Osbourne
By Niall Doherty published
The Swedish giants were playing in New York as part of their Skeletour, and paid tribute to the late metal icon

With Matt Cameron now added to the list, here’s a reminder of all the drummers Pearl Jam have had and lost…
By Niall Doherty published
The former Soundgarden man joins a lengthy list of ex-members who’ve drummed for the grunge titans... and now no longer drum for the grunge titans.

10 songs that proves the Battle Of Britpop sent Blur's Damon Albarn in a more daring direction and changed the course of his career
By Niall Doherty published
From Gorillaz to Africa Express to ambient experimentalism and punk-meets-Afrobeat supergroups, the Blur singer has done it all.

10 brilliant songs from the 90s that bands were barmy to not put on a record
By Niall Doherty published
For your consideration: a list of B-sides and outtakes that deserved a slot in the spotlight

The pub encounter behind Pulp’s timeless classic Common People, the song that changed everything for Jarvis & co.
By Niall Doherty published
It’s 30 years since the Sheffield indie-rockers were riding high in the charts with their anthemic hit. Here’s the story of how it came together.

The story of Coldplay’s debut album Parachutes, the record that introduced the biggest band of the 21st century to the world
By Niall Doherty published
Chris Martin & co. were a long way from the stadium-dwelling titans of today making their debut album, but one song changed everything

It's not all about Oasis, you know: here’s 10 forgotten Britpop bands worth a revisit
By Niall Doherty published
The mid-90s was a fertile time for British indie-rock but not every band got their due…

Here’s the line-up of every major festival in 1995… it really isn’t too different to how they’ve shaped up 30 years later
By Niall Doherty published
Britpop was thriving, Pumpkins were Pumpkinsing, and Skunk Anansie tried to get on every bill going…

The story of every song on Foo Fighters’ monumental debut album
By Niall Doherty published
It’s 30 years since Dave Grohl kicked off a game-changing second act, and this was the record that started it all.

10 brilliant songs that prove Johnny Marr is one of the most influential guitarists of his generation
By Niall Doherty published
It's true, just ask Radiohead, Blur, Fontaines D.C., Red Hot Chili Peppers and more...

Why The Kinks could never fully get on board with Van Halen’s version of You Really Got Me
By Niall Doherty published
The band’s famously chilled out frontman Ray Davies had a hard time accepting that people thought Eddie Van Halen & co. wrote his timeless classic

The Radiohead album that got away: the story of Hail To The Thief
By Niall Doherty published
The story of the art-rock trailblazers misfiring sixth album, one that even the band themselves confess is "a lower part of the curve".

How R.E.M. showed the world they were the real deal on Fables Of The Reconstruction
By Niall Doherty published
The story of Michael Stipe & co.’s strange and brilliant third album.

The Feel Good Hit Of 2000: the story of Queens Of The Stone Age’s brilliant breakthrough album Rated R
By Niall Doherty published
The tale of Josh Homme & co.’s excellent second album, which turns 25 this month, and how metal icon Rob Halford came to make a cameo on it.

The tale of Smashing Pumpkins’ odd, all-over-the-shop 1998 tour to support Adore
By Niall Doherty published
Billy Corgan & co. totally lost the plot in the bid to try and replace Jimmy Chamberlin in 1998. Two words: "percussion solo".

The story of “kissing and fainting to the floor” that inspired Robert Smith for a 1987 classic by The Cure
By Niall Doherty published
As a teenager, The Cure frontman Robert Smith had a magical moment on a clifftop with his future-wife and he revisited it for one of his best ever songs

“Sheer excitement!”: Appetite-era Guns N'Roses on memories of their first ever show together
By Niall Doherty published
Forty years ago, the fledgling GN’R line-up needed a new guitarist and drummer urgently. They found them and rock’n’roll has never been the same since.

“This has been far from a singular endeavour”: your guide to every player who’s ever passed through Nine Inch Nails, from Pretty Hate Machine to now
By Niall Doherty published
Ahead of Trent Reznor & co.’s UK tour next month, here’s your chance to swot up on the industrial-rock titans' evolving line-up over the years

The troubled, tragic tale of Stone Temple Pilots’ self-titled sixth album
By Niall Doherty published
What was meant to be a fresh start for the grunge giants ended up being the beginning of the end for their classic line-up

A Louder writer on how he accidentally got the only Radiohead interview they did for their last record
By Niall Doherty published
As A Moon Shaped Pool turns 9, this writer recollects a night on the tiles in Paris with Thom Yorke & co.

With Oasis’s huge reunion shows looming, here’s the setlist they need to play this summer
By Niall Doherty published
Warning: do not click if you’re a huge fan of She’s Electric.

The story of the Pearl Jam record that the band admit they’re “never going to remember as one of the greats”
By Niall Doherty published
The Seattle rockers’ trickiest album was fraught with writer’s block and drug addiction and it’s not one guitarist Stone Gossard is in a hurry to listen to again.
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