Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

Robert Christgau

Role / Field:

Influential American music journalist known for witty, letter-graded album reviews.

Born:

1942-04-18

Century / Era:

1942s Historical Era

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

Robert Thomas Christgau ( KRIST-gow; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip-hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. He was the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice for 37 years, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music; he was a visiting arts teacher at New York University.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world—when he talks, people listen." Christgau is best known for his terse, letter-graded capsule album reviews, composed in a concentrated, fragmented prose style featuring layered clauses, caustic wit, one-liner jokes, political digressions, and allusions ranging from common knowledge to the esoteric. His writing is often informed by leftist politics (particularly feminism and secular humanism). He...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alexander Belyaev — Contemporary (Died in 1942) (1942): Pioneering Soviet science fiction writer, known as 'Russia's Jules Verne'
• Ama Ata Aidoo — Contemporary (Born in 1942) (1942): Pioneering Ghanaian writer, poet, and academician celebrated for feminist themes.
• Amitabh Bachchan — Contemporary (Born in 1942) (1942): Iconic figure of Hindi cinema, celebrated for versatility and enduring stardom.
• Albert Einstein — Shared historical date (04-18 · Died) (1955): Pioneering theoretical physicist known for the theory of relativity and E=mc2.
• Alexandre Alexeieff — Shared historical date (04-18 · Born) (1901): Russian-born artist, filmmaker, and illustrator known for inventing the pinscreen technique.
• Anita Roddick — Historical peer (Born in 1942) (1942): Pioneering activist and founder of The Body Shop, championing ethical consumerism.
• Aretha Franklin — Historical peer (Born in 1942) (1942): The "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin defined American music with unparalleled vocal power.
• André Bazin — Shared historical date (04-18 · Born) (1918): Influential French film critic and theorist championing cinematic realism.
• Andrew Ng — Shared historical date (04-18 · Born) (1976): Pioneering AI researcher, entrepreneur, and advocate for democratizing deep learning.
• Austin Bradford Hill — Shared historical date (04-18 · Died) (1991): Pioneering epidemiologist known for the Bradford Hill criteria and smoking-cancer link.
• 1942 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1942
• April 18 (04-18) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on April 18

Frequently Asked Questions about Robert Christgau