Paul Lester


Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, Hertfordshire.

Career

He began his career as a freelance journalist, for Melody Maker in the early 1990s, as well as City Limits, 20/20, Sky Magazine and The Jewish Chronicle. He covered grunge, shoegaze, Madchester and Britpop, also spending time with bands touring the UK and internationally.
In 1993, Lester became Melody Makers features editor; then in 1997, left to join Allan Jones in launching monthly music and film magazine Uncut, remaining deputy editor until 2006.
Lester has written more than a dozen rock / pop biographies, co-authored the Virgin Encyclopedia of Albums and often appears as a radio / television music pundit. He has interviewed hundreds of thespians and musicians including Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, Mick Jagger and Snoop Dogg. He has also written sleeve notes on many, including: Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates, The Smiths and The Sex Pistols.
He currently resides in Hertfordshire, from where he has been freelancing since January 2007. He contributes newspapers, including : Guardian, The Sunday Times, the Daily Express, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman. He writes of other periodicals, including: Q , GQ, Record Collector and The Jewish Chronicle.
In July 2011, he joined digital station Amazing Radio to present a weekly show dedicated to new music. The programme continues to broadcast on Thursday afternoons between 1 and 3pm, on the national Digital One network in the UK and online via and the UK .
In 2018, Lester became the editor of Record Collector magazine.

Books

  • Blur: The Illustrated Story. Pyramid, May 1995,
  • Pulp: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, Feb 1996,
  • Björk: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, Aug 1996,
  • Spice Girls: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, Feb 1997,
  • Kula Shaker: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, Mar 1997,
  • The Prodigy: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, Nov 1997,
  • The Encyclopedia of Albums . Dempsey Parr, 1998,
  • The Verve: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn. Jun 1998,
  • Robbie Williams: The Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, Oct 1998,
  • Gang of Four: Damaged Gods. Omnibus Press, Sep 2008,
  • Lowdown: The Story of Wire. Omnibus Press, May 2009,
  • Pink: Split Personality. Omnibus Press, November 2009,

    Album reviews

Awards

In 2008, Lester won the 'Breaking Music Writer' award at the Record of The Day Awards for Music Journalism and PR for his 'New Band of the Day' column in The Guardian.