- Source: Rob Sheffield
- X (album Def Leppard)
- Snakes & Arrows
- Rob Hulse
- Alfie Gilchrist
- Warrior (album Kesha)
- Lady Gaga
- Alex Turner
- Manchester United F.C.
- Red (album Taylor Swift)
- Midnights
- Rob Sheffield
- Flagpole Sitta
- The Black Keys
- You Belong with Me
- Love Is a Mix Tape
- The Tortured Poets Department
- Rubber Soul
- Ronnie Spector
- Jesse Camp
- Super Bowl LIX halftime show
Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author.
He is a long time contributing editor at Rolling Stone, writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at Blender, Spin and Details magazines. A native of Milton, Massachusetts, Sheffield has a bachelor's degree from Yale University and master's degree (1991) from the University of Virginia.
Sheffield lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Published works
Sheffield has written eight books. His first, a memoir published by Random House in January 2007, is titled Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. An excerpt of the book was featured in the January 2007 issue of GQ. A national bestseller, the book was met with much acclaim.
Sheffield's sixth book, released in April 2017, is called Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World. An excerpt was published online by Rolling Stone. USA Today gave Dreaming the Beatles three and one-half (out of four) stars and called it a "charming new collection of essays." Spin added that "Dreaming the Beatles is equal parts history and cultural criticism, as Sheffield draws from dozens of sources to lay down the story of how the Beatles came to be, before writing about why any of it matters." MTV opined that "Dreaming the Beatles is one of the best books about the band ever written." Sheffield won the ASCAP Foundation's Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism for Dreaming the Beatles in 2017.
Sheffield's latest book, published in November 2024, about singer Taylor Swift, is entitled Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music. Writing in The New York Times, Amanda Hess praises his encyclopedic knowledge of Swift's music, fans, and business acumen, but especially her talent as a songwriter, saying "everything always leads back to her virtuosic writing". Publishers Weekly says "the unrestrained delight with which Sheffield captures his subject, [mixes] a fan’s exuberance with a music critic’s nuanced analysis." Kirkus Reviews similarly calls it "an affectionate homage from an ardent fan".
Bibliography
2007 – Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. ISBN 9781400083039
2009 – Bande Originale (French Edition). ISBN 2355840202
2010 – Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut. ISBN 0452297230
2013 – Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke. ISBN 0062207628
2016 – On Bowie. ISBN 0062562703
2017 – Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World. ISBN 0062207652
2019 – The Wild Heart of Stevie Nicks (Audible book). ASIN B07PRK66HL
2024 – Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music. ISBN 0063351315
References
External links
Rob Sheffield at IMDb