ROCK HISTORY KEITH ALTHAM EPISODE TWO

EPISODE TWO
Keith Altham (1941–2026) was one of the most influential and colourful figures in post-war British popular music: first as a pioneering journalist during the explosion of 1960s pop culture, and later as one of the architects of modern rock public relations. Born in Battersea, London, and raised in Surrey, Altham entered publishing as a teenage reporter before joining IPC magazines and then the New Musical Express in the mid-1960s, where he became one of Britain’s best-known music writers. At NME he interviewed virtually every major act of the era, including The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, with whom he formed a particularly close friendship. Altham is often credited with suggesting the flamboyant guitar-burning stunt that became one of Hendrix’s defining stage images.

In 1971 he founded KA Publicity, becoming Britain’s leading independent rock PR at a time when music publicity was still an emerging profession. His client list read like a roll-call of rock royalty: Marc Bolan, Rod Stewart, Slade, Status Quo, Sting and many more. Equally admired for his wit, discretion and instinct for myth-making, Altham helped define the public image of British rock in its most flamboyant decades.

Known for his sharp humour and refusal to flatter egos, he later chronicled his experiences in the memoir No More Mr Nice Guy!, a revealing and often hilarious portrait of life behind the scenes in rock’s golden age. By the time of his retirement, Altham had become widely regarded as the “godfather of British music PR,” a rare figure equally respected by journalists, musicians and rivals alike.