Alan Light

{{for|the publisher and photographer of the same name|Alan Light (comics)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Alan Light

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|8|4}}

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| occupation = Journalist, author, editor

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| nationality = American

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| citizenship = United States

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| alma_mater = Yale University

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| subject = Music

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| years_active = 1990–present

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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 Vibe, Spin, and Tracks.{{cite web|last1=Inoue|first1=Todd|title=Licensed to Edit|date=April 18, 2002|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.18.02/light-0216.html|website=Metroactive Arts|accessdate=August 19, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930180957/http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.18.02/light-0216.html|archivedate=September 30, 2012|url-status=live}}{{cite web| url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/11/18/new_music_magazines_grown_up_appeal_could_be_a_hit/ | title=New music magazine's grown-up appeal could be a hit | website=archive.boston.com | access-date=2024-03-01}}

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. His father, Dr. Irwin Light, was a neotologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. He graduated from Yale University in 1988, majoring in American Studies, and wrote his senior thesis on Licensed to Ill by the Beastie Boys.{{cite web|last1=Arzoian|first1=Rebecca|title=Alum Light tops music mag world|url=http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/19069|accessdate=August 19, 2014|website=Yale Daily News|date=November 17, 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070512085524/http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/19069|archivedate=May 12, 2007}}

Career

Light had been an intern at Rolling Stone during their 20th anniversary year while still a student.{{cite web|last1=Maniaci|first1=Paul|title=Alan Light Music Journalist|date=August 27, 2006|url=http://www.thecareercookbook.com/article.php?article_id=40|website=TheCareerCookbook.com|accessdate=August 19, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225044630/http://thecareercookbook.com/article.php?article_id=40|archivedate=February 25, 2012|url-status=live}} He later joined the staff as a fact checker in 1989, becoming a senior writer in 1990.{{cite web|title=Light, Alan|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2698100221.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414045457/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-2698100221.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 14, 2016|work=Contemporary Authors|accessdate=August 20, 2014|date=January 1, 2007|quote=During early career, worked as a freelancer, as a fact checker for periodicals Village Voice and 7 Days in New York, NY; Rolling Stone (music magazine), senior writer, 1990–93; Vibe (music magazine), founding music editor, 1993, editor in chief, 1994–97; Spin (music magazine), editor, beginning 1999; cofounder and editor in chief, Tracks Magazine.}} 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.{{cite web|last1=Ward|first1=Steven|last2=Woods|first2=Scott|title=Still Able to See the Light – Spin Editor Defines His Territory|url=http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/alanlight/alanlight.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041205044428/http://www.rockcritics.com/interview/alanlight.html|archivedate=December 5, 2004|website=RockCritics.com|accessdate=August 19, 2014|url-status=live}} He left Spin in March 2002{{cite web|title=Alan Light|url=http://www.cencom.org/bios.aspx?id=952|website=Center for Communication|date=2006|accessdate=July 2, 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090702115807/http://www.cencom.org/bios.aspx?id=952|archivedate=July 2, 2009}} and founded the music magazine Tracks in 2003. 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.{{cite news|last1=Maslin|first1=Janet|title=Time Passes, but a Song's Time Doesn't – 'The Holy or the Broken' by Alan Light|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/books/the-holy-or-the-broken-by-alan-light.html|accessdate=August 19, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=December 9, 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231144123/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/books/the-holy-or-the-broken-by-alan-light.html|archivedate=December 31, 2012|url-status=live}}

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,{{cite web|title=4th Annual Judges |url=http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/imajudges2005.asp |website=Independent Music Awards |accessdate=August 19, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112145013/http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/imajudges2005.asp |archivedate=November 12, 2015 }} and subsequently for the 11th, 12th and 13th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Starting in October 2016 Light is one of the mainstay hosts of the newly created Volume music talk channel on Sirius XM on the afternoon show Debatable.

Light has also been involved in assisting homeless people with the Housing Works AIDS charity.{{cite web|title=Community Story: Alan Light, Board Cochair, Housing Works Bookstore Café |url=http://www.housingworks.org/about/people/community-stories/detail/alan-light-board-cochair-housing-works-bookstore-cafe/ |website=Housing Works |accessdate=December 12, 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212184447/http://www.housingworks.org/about/people/community-stories/detail/alan-light-board-cochair-housing-works-bookstore-cafe/ |archivedate=December 12, 2009}}

After publication of his 2012 book The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah, Light served as consulting producer for the 2022 film Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.{{cite magazine |last1=Chiu |first1=David |title=Leonard Cohen's Enduring "Hallelujah" Celebrated In New Film |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2022/07/09/leonard-cohens-enduring-hallelujah-celebrated-in-new-film/ |magazine=Forbes |date=July 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709172703/https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2022/07/09/leonard-cohens-enduring-hallelujah-celebrated-in-new-film/?sh=70048e130aa7 |archive-date=July 9, 2022 |url-status=live }}

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{{cite web|last1=Kaminer|first1=Michael|title=Gregg Allman's Ghost Writer|date=August 15, 2012|url=http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/161049/gregg-allmans-ghost-writer/|website=The Jewish Daily Forward|accessdate=August 19, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511072741/http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/161049/gregg-allmans-ghost-writer/|archivedate=May 11, 2013|url-status=live}}
The Holy or the Broken – Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah', 2012
Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain, 2014