Described by the New York Times as 'the only the Dylanologist worth reading', Clinton Heylin is the author of the acclaimed Bob Dylan- Behind the Shades (1991; revised 2001) and over two dozen other books on music and popular culture, including biographies of Sandy Denny, Van Morrison and Orson Welles, and the two classic studies of punk's origins, From The Velvets to The Voidoids and Anarchy in the Year Zero.

An ex-pupil of Manchester Grammar School, and with two degrees in History, he has been a full-time historian and critic for over three decades. He lives in Somerset.