Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, Hertfordshire.

He began his career as a freelance journalist, for Melody Maker in the early 1990s, as well as City Limits, 20/20, Sky Magazine and The Jewish Chronicle. He covered grunge, shoegaze, Madchester and Britpop, also spending time with bands touring the UK and internationally.^[1]

In 1993, Lester became Melody Maker's features editor; then in 1997, left to join Allan Jones in launching monthly music and film magazine Uncut, remaining deputy editor until 2006.

Lester has written more than a dozen rock / pop biographies, co-authored the Virgin Encyclopedia of Albums and often appears as a radio / television music pundit. He has interviewed hundreds of thespians and musicians including Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, Mick Jagger and Snoop Dogg. He has also written sleeve notes on many, including: Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates, The Smiths and The Sex Pistols.^[2]

He currently resides in Hertfordshire, from where he has been freelancing since January 2007. He contributes newspapers, including : Guardian (daily columnist of 'Critics Picks'^[3] and 'New Band of the Day'^[4]), The Sunday Times, the Daily Express, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman. He writes of other periodicals, including: Q (magazine), GQ, Record Collector and The Jewish Chronicle (an autobiographical column about recently remarried life, as a father of three children).^{[citation needed]}

In July 2011, he joined digital station Amazing Radio to present a weekly show dedicated to new music.^[5] The programme continues to broadcast on Thursday afternoons between 1 and 3pm, on the national Digital One network in the UK and online via amazingradio.co.uk and the UK RadioPlayer.

In 2018, Lester became the editor of Record Collector magazine.^{[citation needed]}

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2016)

• Lester, Paul (1995). Oasis : the illustrated story. London: Hamlyn.
• — (1996). Oasis : the illustrated story. New ed. London: Hamlyn.
• Blur: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Pyramid, May 1995, ISBN 978-0-600-58689-0
• Pulp: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Feb 1996, ISBN 978-0-600-58974-7
• Björk: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Aug 1996, ISBN 978-0-600-59067-5
• Spice Girls: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Feb 1997, ISBN 978-0-600-59255-6
• Kula Shaker: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Mar 1997, ISBN 978-0-600-59270-9
• The Prodigy: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Nov 1997, ISBN 978-0-600-59511-3
• The Encyclopedia of Albums (co-authored with Chris Roberts) (Paperback). Dempsey Parr, 1998, ISBN 978-1-84084-031-5
• The Verve: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn. Jun 1998, ISBN 978-0-600-59592-2
• Robbie Williams: The Illustrated Story (Paperback). Hamlyn, Oct 1998, ISBN 978-0-600-59746-9
• Gang of Four: Damaged Gods (Paperback). Omnibus Press, Sep 2008, ISBN 978-1-84772-245-4
• Lowdown: The Story of Wire (Paperback). Omnibus Press, May 2009, ISBN 978-1-84772-710-7
• Pink: Split Personality (Paperback). Omnibus Press, November 2009, ISBN 978-1-84938-060-7

In 2008, Lester won the 'Breaking Music Writer' award at the Record of The Day Awards for Music Journalism and PR ^[6] for his 'New Band of the Day' column in The Guardian.

• New Band of the Day: The Guardian
• Paul Lester's blog: The Jewish Chronicle
• List of rock articles by Paul Lester
• Paul Lester at IMDb
• UNCUT
• Amazing Radio show page