Lester Bangs

Lester Bangs
Bangs photographed by Roberta Bayley in 1976
Born	Leslie Conway Bangs (1948-12-14)December 14, 1948 Escondido, California United States
Died	April 30, 1982(1982-04-30) (aged 33) New York, New York United States
Occupation	Music critic, musician, author
Nationality	American
Period	1969–1982
Subject	Rock music, jazz

Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, critic, author, and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines and was known for his leading influence in rock music criticism; The music critic Jim DeRogatis called him "America's greatest rock critic".

Bangs was born in Escondido, in San Diego County, California. He was the son of Norma Belle (née Clifton) and Conway Leslie Bangs, a truck driver. Both of his parents were from Texas: his father from Enloe and his mother from Pecos County. Norma Belle was a devout Jehovah's Witness. Conway died in a fire when his son was young.

When Bangs was 11, he moved with his mother to El Cajon, also in San Diego County.

His interests and influences growing up were as wide-ranging as the Beats (particularly William S. Burroughs), jazz musicians like John Coltrane and Miles Davis, comic books, and science fiction. He had a connection with the San Diego Door, an underground newspaper of the late 1960s.

In 1969 Bangs became a freelance writer after reading an ad in Rolling Stone soliciting readers' reviews. His first piece was a negative review of the MC5 album Kick Out the Jams, which he sent to Rolling Stone with a note requesting that if the magazine were to decline to publish the review, he would be given a reason for the decision; no reply was forthcoming, as the magazine did indeed publish the review.