in memory of metal music author Garry Sharpe-Young (1964–2010)

Garry Sharpe-Young (1964 - Mar 12, 2010)

Garry Sharpe-Young (1964–2010) was an English music journalist and author. He was an expert on heavy metal and hard rock. He founded Rockdetector, which became a massive database for metal bands. He spent decades documenting metal history. At age 14, he created album art, including the cover for Grim Reaper’s See You in Hell. Later, he wrote for magazines like Metal Forces and Aardschok. He launched Rockdetector in 2001. The site eventually listed over 60,000 bands. He wrote detailed biographies based on thousands of interviews. He wanted to document every metal band, including obscure ones.

He wrote more than 20 books. These are now essential guides for fans. Metal: The Definitive Guide (2007) is a 500-page encyclopedia with a foreword by Rob Halford. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (2006) is a detailed biography of Black Sabbath. His A-Z Series covered subgenres like Death Metal, Thrash Metal, and Black Metal. New Wave of American Heavy Metal (2005) chronicled the rise of bands like Lamb of God.

He moved to New Zealand in the early 2000s. He worked as an events manager for the New Plymouth District Council. He helped bring acts like Motörhead and Fleetwood Mac to the area. He died unexpectedly on March 12, 2010, from an aneurysm. He was 45 years old. His death was a major loss to the metal community. He was respected for his accuracy and integrity.

Metal Archives biography: Sharpe-Young started out in the music industry at age 14, creating artwork for album covers, including Grim Reaper‘s See You In Hell and Queensryche‘s Rage For Order. He soon decided that writing about music was his true calling and began working for the fanzine Metal Mania, owned by famed San Francisco DJ Ron Quintana. He went on to write for Aardschok America, then spent seven years working for Metal Forces. He also worked with various records labels as an A&R man, signing new talent. During his lengthy career, he wrote over twenty books, including the 2007 reference manual Metal: The Definitive Guide which featured a foreword by Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, the 2007 thrash encyclopedia Thrash Metal and the unauthorized biographies Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The Battle For Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne: The Story of the Ozzy Osbourne Band.