Mick Wall

Mick Wall (born June 23, 1958) is a British music journalist, radio and TV presenter, and author.^[1]

Wall began his career contributing to the music weekly Sounds in 1977, where he wrote on punk and the new wave, before graduating to rockabilly, funk, New Romantic pop and, eventually, hard rock and heavy metal. In 1979, he left music journalism to become the partner in his own PR firm, Heavy Publicity, aged just 20, where he oversaw press campaigns for artists such as Black Sabbath, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Thin Lizzy, Ultravox, The Damned, Dire Straits and several others. In the early 1980s he also worked at Virgin Records as press officer for such artists as Gillan, The Human League, Simple Minds, Japan and others.

By 1983, Wall become one of the main journalists in the early days of Kerrang! magazine, where he was their star cover story writer for the next nine years. He subsequently became the founding editor of Classic Rock magazine in 1998, and presented his own television and radio shows on Sky TV, Capital Radio, BBC GLR, BBC Radio 1, Planet Rock and, others. He has also guested on on several television programmes and documentaries on BBC TV, ITV, Sky One, Channel Four and MTV.

Wall has authored many biographies of musicians and bands including Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden and Guns N' Roses.^[2] The latter mentioned him in their song "Get in the Ring" after Wall fell out with former friend, singer W. Axl Rose for "not doing as I was told." One of his most famous books, however, remains Paranoid: Black Days With Sabbath & Other Horror Stories (1999), a semi-fictionalised account of his substance-abusing days in the 1980s working with some of the biggest rock stars in the world. His latest book is the biography of Led Zeppelin, entitled When Giants Walked The Earth.^[3]

Wall is also the author of a daily blog on his official website www.mickwall.com, consisting of a compendium of domestic affairs and anecdotes from his past.

Wall currently lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and children.

Bibliography

• Diary Of A Madman - The Official Biography of Ozzy Osbourne, Zomba Books, 1986
• Market Square Heroes - The Authorized Biography of Marillion, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1987
• Guns N’ Roses: The Most Dangerous Band In The World, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1991
• Pearl Jam, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1994
• All Night Long: The True Story of Jon Bon Jovi, Omnibus Press, 1995
• Run To The Hills: The Authorised Biography of Iron Maiden, Sanctuary Books, 1998
• Paranoid: Black Days With Sabbath & Other Horror Stories. Mainstream, 1999
• Mr Big: Ozzy, Sharon and My Life as the Godfather of Rock, Robson Books, 2004 (written with Don Arden)
• XS All Areas: the Autobiography of Status Quo, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2004 (written with Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt)
• John Peel – A Tribute To The Legendary DJ and Broadcaster, Orion Books, 2004
• Bono: In The Name Of Love, Andre Deutsch, 2005
• Star Trippin’: The Best Of Mick Wall 1985-91, M&G, 2006
• W. Axl Rose: The Unauthorised Biography, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2007
• When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin, Orion Books, 2008
• Osbournes Confidential: An Insider's Chronicle, JR Books, 2008
• Appetite For Destruction: Legendary Encounters With Mick Wall, Orion Books, 2010
• Enter Night – Metallica: The Biography, Orion Books, 2010

References

1. ^ "Biography". http://www.mickwall.com/bio.htm. 
2. ^ "List of books by Mick Wall". amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/026-1856821-3369208?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=Mick%20Wall. 
3. ^ David Cheal, 'When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin by Mick Wall', Telegraph.co.uk, 27 October 2008.

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Name	Wall, Mick
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Date of birth	June 23, 1958
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