Jonh Ingham

Who is Jonh Ingham?

Jonh Ingham is the nom de typewriter for John Ingham, a music journalist best known for writing the first interview with The Sex Pistols for the UK music paper Sounds in April 1976.

Ingham was born in Australia to English parents and grew up in Australia, Canada, and the USA. As a student at CalArts in Los Angeles he took a course from Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau, who taught him to be a music critic and helped him get his first bylines. While still at college his work appeared in Rolling Stone, Creem, and other contemporary magazines. With Greg Shaw he was instrumental in launching the influential music fanzine Who Put The Bomp.

Moving to London, UK, in 1972 to attend film school, he was a freelance writer for the NME and other British music magazines before joining Sounds.

As a staff writer from 1975–1977 he wrote high-profile interviews with major rock artists such as The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page, Roxy Music and Queen, and was one of the first journalists to champion the Punk music movement. As well as the first interview with The Sex Pistols he wrote the first reviews of The Damned and The Clash.