After three years at Queen's College, Oxford, he became a full-time writer at the NME in 1993, where he stayed until the summer of 1995.

Fortuitously, this represented ideal timing. John was around for the birth of what became known as Britpop, and wrote reams about most of its key players - Suede, Blur, Elastica, Oasis.

After a spell with Q, he became Editor of Select magazine in 1996, before deciding to return - two weeks before his 30th birthday - to the life of a freelance writer.

Since then, he has written about music for Q, Mojo and Rolling Stone, and contributed articles on a variety of subjects to the Independent.

John Harris's acclaimed first book, The Last Party: Britpop, Blair And The Demise Of English Rock, was published by Fourth Estate in May 2003.

According to The Sunday Times, its is "that rare thing: a book principally about rock musicians that is a compulsive page-turner."