Career and writing style

A contributor to such titles as The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, Shortlist, The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 and Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

, Beaumont's writings have predominately appeared in the NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 where he has written numerous reviews and interviews since 1996 and has also functioned as the magazine's letters and singles page editor. Considered by NME editor Conor McNicholas

Conor McNicholas

Conor McNicholas is a journalist, and the former editor of BBC Top Gear Magazine and IPC-run music magazine New Musical Express, better known as the NME...

 one of the title's "star" writers, Beaumont has frequently been assigned the task of reviewing latest releases and gigs from high-profile artists (Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

http://www.nme.com/reviews/arctic-monkeys/7759, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. BRMC is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound. They are influenced by bands such as: The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Verve, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, T...

http://www.nme.com/reviews/5990.htm, Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

http://www.nme.com/reviews/coldplay/7681)and Muse

Muse

The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...

.

In his writings, Beaumont has often favoured a caustic, confrontational and at times humorous prose style, especially when writing on artists or records that he doesn't hold a particularly high regard for.

Beaumont wrote a band biography for the liner notes of the band Mansun

Mansun

Mansun were an English alternative rock band formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. The band broke up in May 2003....

's posthumous album Kleptomania

Kleptomania (album)

-Disc two:-Disc three:-Personnel:Disc One Credits* All songs written by Paul Draper* Produced by Richard Rainey and Paul Draper* Engineered by Cenzo Townshend, except tracks 9 and 10 engineered by Barney Chase.Disc Two Credits...

.

Beaumont released a biography of the band Muse

Muse

The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...

 entitled "Out Of This World" in the autumn of 2008.

2007 Keith Richards interview

In April 2007, Beaumont found himself at the centre of a media storm when NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 magazine published his now-infamous interview with Keith Richards

Keith Richards

Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...

. Beaumont had asked Richards what the strangest thing he had ever snorted was, and quoted him as replying:
Amid the media uproar that followed, Richards' manager claimed the remark had been made in jest, but Beaumont told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that he believed Richards had been telling the truth, adding that "He did seem to be quite honest about it. There were too many details for him to be making it up". He later told Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

magazine that the interview had been conducted by telephone and that he had misquoted Richards at one point (reporting that Richards had said he listens to Motörhead, when what he had said was Mozart), but that he still believed the veracity of the ash-snorting anecdote. Richards later confirmed in an interview with Mojo

Mojo (magazine)

MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...

magazine that he had, in fact, snorted his father's ashes - with no cocaine mixed in - before burying them under an oak tree: "I said I'd chopped him up like cocaine, not with."

External links

• http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=58 - Beaumont's "Raving Reporter" NME Blog