Robert fripp

RICHARD SINCLAIR

With his cape and on-stage curry, he defined prog rock excess. Breakdowns, penury and near-death were the prices paid, but somehow the baroque synth lines and droll quips kept flowing… and still do. “I’m my own worst enemy,” laughs Rick Wakeman.

The John Hackett Band are celebrating a decade of making music together with their second album, the recently released Red Institution . The four-piece talk about their easy chemistry, songwriting inspiration and those pinch-me moments of performing material originally by King Crimson and the other Hackett.

Few guitarists are loved as equally for their acoustic work as their electric playing but such is the unique talent of Richard Thompson . We meet him to find out how he’s preparing to go head-to-head with Tommy Emmanuel, chat about the end of his touring days, and talk alternative tunings

Amid the mayhem of his European tour, Joe takes time out to give us a guided tour around his 2025 live gear, delivers the lowdown on some of his more storied guitars, and tells us why his mighty multi-amp rig has to run at breaking point in order to make the earth move and those riffs resonate…

The Back To The Beginning show features the greatest metal bill ever assembled. Over the next 12 pages, some of the musicians appearing share just what Ozzy and Black Sabbath mean to them