Dave Marsh, Rock Critic and Springsteen Biographer, Dies at 76
Dave Marsh, the rock critic and biographer whose writing shaped how a generation understood rock and roll, died on 14 August at his home in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was 76. The cause of death has not been disclosed. His death was announced on social media by Jim Rotolo, his longtime co-host on SiriusXM satellite radio (Rolling Stone).
Marsh was a force across several formats. He served as an early editor of Creem, the Detroit-based rock magazine that rivaled Rolling Stone in cultural reach during the 1970s. He also wrote for Rolling Stone itself, The Village Voice and Newsday. Over a career spanning five decades he penned more than 25 books, including Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who, and The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (Rolling Stone).
His name was inseparable from the Bruce Springsteen story. Marsh escorted Jon Landau — the critic-turned-manager who would guide Springsteen's career — to his first Springsteen concert in 1974 and encouraged him to write the landmark "I Saw Rock and Roll Future" column. Marsh wrote Rolling Stone's first Springsteen cover story in 1978 and, the following year, published Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, the first significant biography of the artist. He updated the work in 2003 as Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts: The Definitive Biography, 1972–2003. His wife, Barbara Carr, served as Springsteen's co-manager for several decades (Rolling Stone).
Marsh's other major biography, Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who, drew on extensive interviews with guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend, conducted after the band broke up in 1982 (Rolling Stone).
He was a maker of reference works as well as narratives. Marsh spearheaded the first edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide in 1979, a volume that rated thousands of albums and became a buying companion for record-store regulars. He sat on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee for 26 years, a tenure he was not shy about: he once boasted that he had done his share to keep Kiss off the ballot (Rolling Stone).
His opinions could be blunt to the point of provocation. A 1979 Rolling Stone review of Queen's album Jazz saw Marsh call the band "the first truly fascist rock band," a line that followed both him and the group for decades (Rolling Stone).
In his later years, Marsh found a second home in broadcasting. He was one of the creators of E Street Radio, the SiriusXM channel devoted to Springsteen's music, and hosted the show Kick Out the Jams on the same platform for 19 years (Rolling Stone).
Springsteen, Townshend and Tom Morello were among the artists previously scheduled to pay tribute to Marsh at an event celebrating his work and vision, according to an announcement reported by Billboard in April 2021 (Billboard).
Marsh is survived by Carr.
