John Rhys Harris (born 1969) is a British journalist, writer, and critic.
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Harris was raised in Wilmslow in north Cheshire by a university lecturer (nuclear engineering)[1] and a teacher, daughter of a nuclear research chemist. He became fixated by pop music at an early age.
He attended the comprehensive Wilmslow County High School (at the same time as Doves[2]), then went to Loreto College, Manchester, a Roman catholic sixth form college between the University of Manchester and Old Trafford. [3] He applied to study Modern History at Keble College, Oxford, but was rejected at the interview stage, and claimed that his membership of left-wing organisations had not won him many favours with such a traditional and conservative college. He spent three years studying PPE at The Queen's College, Oxford between 1989 and 1992.
In addition to writing, Harris often appears on television programmes concerned with late 80s/early 90s British pop music as well as being a regular pundit on BBC2's Newsnight Review.
In 1991, Harris joined Melody Maker. Between 1993 and the summer of 1995, Harris wrote for NME. And in 1995, Harris was named editor of Select magazine after a brief stint with Q.
In 1995, Harris resumed his career as a freelance writer, writing about pop music, politics, and a variety of other subjects. His articles have appeared in Q, Mojo, Rolling Stone, The Independent, the New Statesman, The Times, and The Guardian.
He believes Britpop was a shining moment for the UK's music industry, and possibly the end of an era, with (manufactured) music now deliberately catering for the lowest common denominator.
Harris has written five books:
He lives in Hay on Wye, Powys, near the Wales/England border and occasionally makes guest appearances on BBC Radio Wales.