Bob Spitz Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Bob Spitz      

Music Industry Insider & Biographer

Bob Spitz is the New York Times best-selling author of The Beatles and Dylan, who for over 30 years has explored the vagaries of music and popular culture with a critical eye. A music industry insider, he has managed the careers of Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, giving him a unique perspective on the ways creativity rocks our world.

Rolling Stone considers his book The Beatles: The Biography as the "definitive work" on that all-important band, revealing, as The Boston Globe reported, "the flawed, singularly creative human beings behind the lovable moptop image." The New York Times compared Spitz's artistry to that of Martin Scorsese for its "passion... and for every nuance of every scene."

The Beatles is the story of how four different personalities came together in one distinctive voice to become the greatest rock 'n roll band in the world. Spitz explains what we glean from their story and how we can make similar leaps in our own lives utilizing the hallmarks of the Beatles: teamwork, innovation, ambition, and a willingness to break down barriers, even if it sometimes means breaking the rules.

His biography Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child was published on the centenary of her birth, in August 2012. More than the tale of a talented woman and her sumptuous craft, it is also a saga of America's coming of age and growing sophistication, from the Depression Era to the turbulent 60's and the excesses of the eighties to the greening of the American kitchen.

Speech Topics


The Beatles: How Great Collaboration Works

Everyone thinks it was all natural talent, but so much more went into making the Beatles the most successful band in history. There was collaboration: four young friends whose unique talents and personalities combined to form a distinctive voice, a universal sound; there was hard work: the years spent playing jive dives and bars in Hamburg, honing their craft, forging a new style; there was their genius for presentation: the haircuts, the round-collar suits, the yeah-yeah-yeah; there was the impulse to explore: to create new musical forms, to constantly evolve; there was their ambition to be the best: to engage the world, and to reflect and influence the culture around them.

As the preeminent biographer of the Beatles, Bob Spitz knits all the pieces together to explain the making of cultural icons: true superstars.

News


Celebrating Julia Child's birthday with a good read | Relish Austin ...
Bob Spitz' ... Just when you think you couldn't learn any more about Julia Child, Bob Spitz painted the famed food personality in a whole new light in "Dearie." ...
Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, Bob Spitz | Top 10 Arts ...
In 55 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad of the past 12 months...

Related Speakers View all


More like Bob