Charles Shaar Murray

Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the New Musical Express (NME) and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of television documentaries and reports on music.

Early life Murray grew up in Reading, Berkshire, England, where he attended Reading School and learned to play the harmonica and guitar.

Career Murray's first experience in journalism came in 1970, when he was one of a number of schoolchildren who responded to an invitation to edit the April issue of the satirical magazine Oz. He thus contributed to the notorious Schoolkids OZ issue and was involved in the consequent obscenity trial. for which he wrote until around 1986. He subsequently worked for a number of publications including Q magazine, Mojo, MacUser, The New Statesman, Prospect, The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, Vogue and The Independent. He also began writing a monthly column about his lifelong love affair with guitars in Guitarist magazine.

Murray sang and played guitar and harmonica as Blast Furnace in the band Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves and performed with London blues band Crosstown Lightnin'.