Siân Llewellyn

Siân Llewellyn

Editor, Classic Rock

Classic Rock editor Siân has worked on the magazine for longer than she cares to discuss, and prior to that was deputy editor of Total Guitar. During that time, she’s had the chance to interview artists such as Brian May, Slash, Jeff Beck, James Hetfield, Sammy Hagar, Alice Cooper, Manic Street Preachers and countless more. She has hosted The Classic Rock Magazine Show on both TotalRock and TeamRock radio, contributed to CR’s The 20 Million Club podcast and has also had bylines in Metal Hammer, Guitarist, Total Film, Cult TV and more. When not listening to, playing, thinking or writing about music, she can be found getting increasingly more depressed about the state of the Welsh national rugby team and her beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

Articles by: Siân Llewellyn

Classic Rock 337 - with Iron Maiden's Eddie on the cover

Celebrating 50 years of Iron Maiden with exclusive all-new interviews - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Larkin Poe, Gillan, Manic Street Preachers, Thin Lizzy, The Pogues, King Crimson, The Knack, Ricky Warwick, Shaman's Harvest, Brian Fallon, Von Hertzen Brothers and more

The cover of Classic Rock 336, featuring Rush's 'starman' logo

Celebrating 50 Years Of Rush: an exclusive new interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Styx, Joe Satriani, The Doors, DeWolff, Sweet, Mark Tremonti, Metallica, Andy Fairweather Low, Tom Morello, Brothers Osborne, The Struts and more

The best 50 albums of 2024 montage

The 50 Best Rock Albums of 2024

By Classic Rock Magazine published

A-listers, established artists, up-and-comers, previously unknowns and more

Classic Rock 224 Packshot

The best albums, the biggest shows, and the megastars who rocked our world - only in Classic Rock's Best Of 2024 special edition

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: AC/DC, David Gilmour, Foreigner, Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Ghost Bruce Dickinson, Hawkwind, the Black Crowes and more - and three exclusive gifts

Tim Buckley, Maddy Prior and Roy Harper

A beginner's guide to progressive folk in 10 acts - it's not all 'hey nonny nonny', y'know

By Siân Llewellyn published

Folk and folk rock bands are responsible for some of the most progressive music ever made. Not only that, but they influenced the rock world as we know it

The cover of Classic Rock 334, featuring Van Halen

At war with their producer. At war with their label. At war with each other: The chaotic making of Van Halen's 1984 - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Alex Van Halen, the Rolling Stones, Opeth, George Murray, Queen, Von Hertzen Brothers, Meat Loaf, Joan Armatrading, Michael Monroe, Rosalie Cunningham, The Sheepdogs, Koyo, The Darkness, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Starbenders and more

The cover of Classic Rock 333, featuring Motörhead

“All of a sudden, things went mad!": Motörhead's Overkill, the album that changed everything - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Jack Russell, Nikki Sixx, The Offspring, Myles Kennedy, Bill Wyman, Tuk Smith, Howlin' Wolf, MC5, The Damned, Steve Howe and more

The Cure posing for a photograph in 1984

“I wanted to make the ultimate record. And then the band could stop”: How The Cure’s Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers albums became goth’s great ‘Dark Trilogy’

By Siân Llewellyn published

The Cure’s Robert Smith looks back on the albums that turned the band into the goth icons they are today

The cover of Classic Rock 332, featuring the artwork from Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak

All hell breaks loose! Inside Thin Lizzy's first hit album and the campaign to break America - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Motörhead, Jerry Cantrell, Jon Anderson, The Cold Stares, Fleetwood Mac, Terrorvision, Michael Schenker, Idles, The Hot Damn!, Bad Religion, Paul Gilbert and more

Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant performing onstage in 1987

“People go, ‘How can you write another Free Bird?’ And I go, ‘You can’t.’ Nobody could ever fill Ronnie’s shoes”: The unlikely second coming of Lynyrd Skynyrd

By Siân Llewellyn published

Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited a decade after the plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant to launch their second act

Classic Rock 331 front cover featuring Aerosmith

"We were out on our asses": How Aerosmith took flight with Get Your Wings - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: John Mayall, Pink Floyd, Joe Elliott, Creed, Phil Mogg, The Cadillac Three, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joanne Shaw Taylor, LA Edwards and more

The cover of Classic Rock 330, featuring Briuce Springsteen posing in front of a US flag holding a guitar

Bruce Springsteen: The torment and triumph of Born In The USA - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Dio, Deep Purple, Duff McKagan, Canned Heat, Blondie, Gene Simmons, Tito, Suzi Quatro, Orange Goblin, Fish, Tyler Bryant, Blues Pills and more

Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen playing guitar onstage in 1986

“Eddie Van Halen could say: ‘I got this idea,’ and Sammy could pick up a guitar and go, ‘Yes, but what about this?’” why Sammy Hagar is the greatest guitar hero no one talks about

By Siân Llewellyn published

He’s played with six-string icons Ronnie Montrose, Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani – but Sammy Hagar is a hell of a guitarist himself

AC/DC on the cover of Classic Rock 329

The new issue of Classic Rock is an AC/DC 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition

By Siân Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Heart, Black Country Communion, Allman Brothers, Ian Hunter, Manic Street Preachers, ELP, Black Crowes, Anvil, Marcus King, Lindisfarne, Lemon Twigs, Mitch Ryder and more

Classic Rock issue 328 - front cover with Black Sabbath

The untold story of Black Sabbath's unlikely resurrection: Only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Sian Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Jon Bon Jovi, Triumph, Bryan Adams, Praying Mantis, FM, New England, Al Jourgensen, Masters Of Reality, Chris Spedding, Cock Sparrer, Bad Nerves and more

Classic Rock 327 - cover featuring Slash, Billy Gibbons, Brian Johnson, Steven Tyler and Iggy Pop

"It's the Devil's Music - Hide your kids' stuff!" How Slash made the blues sound like a party again – only in the new issue of Classic Rock

By Sian Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Eagles, Pink Floyd, Kerry King, Sebastian Bach, Lenny Kravitz, Steve Harley, The Black Keys, Walter Trout, Nazareth, Troy Redfern and more

Classic Rock 326 - cover image featuring Deep Purple

"Black Night? It was done in two hours of drunkenness!": Deep Purple's best songs, in their own words - Only in the revealing new issue of Classic Rock

By Sian Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Scorpions, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark Jr., The Waterboys, Kris Barras, Big Big Train, Gun, Peter Green, Wolfgang Van Halen and much more

Classic Rock 325 - front cover

"We argued about everything": The stories behind the making of The Works, the album that returned Queen to rock: Only in the regal new issue of Classic Rock

By Sian Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: The Black Crowes, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, The Pineapple Thief, Wayne Kramer, Scott Stapp, Bush, Green Day, The Stranglers and more

Gary Moore relaxing in an armchair

"I came home from school and learned all the sounds, and learned all the songs note for note. I could just relate to it somehow": How the blues galvanised Gary Moore

By Sian Llewellyn published

Heavily influenced by the 60s boom, Thin Lizzy’s perennially under-rated guitarist Gary Moore would take blues rock to the next level and beyond

Classic Rock issue 324

Iron Maiden's Powerslave at 40 and the Greatest Albums of 1984: Only in the historic new issue of Classic Rock

By Sian Llewellyn published

Also in this issue: Mick Mars, Tony Clarkin, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Spinal Tap, Ace Frehley, Big Country, Frankie Miller, Don Henley, Blackberry Smoke and much more

People lifting their hands up hold cell phone flashlights

The 50 best AOR albums of all time

By Dave Ling, Jon Hotten, Sian Llewellyn, Paul Elliott published

From big hitters like Journey, Boston and Foreigner to the lesser known lights of AOR, these are the 50 albums that truly sparkle

Syd Barrett in 1967, his face lit by psychedelic lights

How Syd Barrett cast a spell that lasted throughout Pink Floyd's career

By Sian Llewellyn published

Pink Floyd are synonymous with Roger Waters and David Gilmour, but Syd Barrett remains the lost genius at the heart of the band

The cover of Classic Rock 323 starring Kiss

Backstage at the final Kiss show: Only in the pyrotechnic new issue of Classic Rock

By Sian Llewellyn published

Also available: the special, limited edition Kiss bundle edition. Inside: Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Nirvana, The Doors, Saxon, Peter Gabriel and more

Starbenders, Wolfgang Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, Grace Potter and Skindred

The 50 best rock albums of 2023

By Fraser Lewry published

The past 12 months may go down in history as a period of tumult and turmoil, but on the positive side, rock'n'roll is very much alive and well – as the best 50 albums of 2023 reflect

Classic Rock 322 cover plus 2024 calendar

Classic Rock Magazine: our unmissable end-of-year issue is on sale now

By Sian Llewellyn published

In this issue: the best albums, the biggest shows, the greatest songs of 2023 - plus our 2024 Calendar, a sheet of rockin' wrappin' paper, and some Classic Rock Christmas gift tags