NICK TOSCHES

Rock biographer and novelist (1949–2019)

Alongside Lester Bangs and Richard Meltzer, Nick Tosches cut swathes through Rolling Stone and Creem in the ’70s with his free-ranging gonzo prose, though he secured his legend with vivid biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis (1982’s Hellfire) and, a decade later, Dean Martin. Tosches also wrote various novels and collections of poetry.