WRITER

Lester Bangs

1948 - 1982

Photo of Lester Bangs

Icon of person Lester Bangs

Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was a leading influence in rock music criticism. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Lester Bangs has received more than 1,263,925 page views. His biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2019). Lester Bangs is the 6,186th most popular writer (down from 5,742nd in 2019), the 10,638th most popular biography from United States (up from 10,681st in 2019) and the 791st most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 42.81

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 20

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.92

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.65

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Psychotic reactions and carburetor dung
History and criticism, Rock music, Music Journalism
Mainlines, blood feasts, and bad taste
History and criticism, Rock music, Music Journalism
Psychotic Reactions and Carburettor Dung
Psychotic reactions et autres carburateurs flingués
Elvis Presley
Lit Riffs
Maggie May (1981) / Lester Bangs, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton -- The National Anthem / Jonathan Lethem, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Speeding motorcycle" by Daniel Johnston as performed by Yo La Tengo -- Blue guitar / Amanda Davis, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Blue guitar" by the Cowboy Junkies -- Untitled / JT LeRoy, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters -- Dirty mouth / Tom Perrotta, inspired by the music and lyrics from "I won't back down" by Tom Petty -- Hallelujah / Tanker Dane, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen as performed by Jeff Buckley -- Why go / Lisa Tucker, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Why go" by Pearl Jam -- All the security guards by name / Aimee Bender, inspired by the music and lyrics from "The lobby" by Jane Siberry -- She once had me / Anthony DeCurtis, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Norwegian wood (This bird has flown)" by the Beatles -- Milestones / Hannah Tinti, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Milestones" by Miles Davis -- Death in the alt-country / Neal Pollack, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Mama tried" by Merle Haggard -- I shot the sheriff / Touré, inspired by the music and lyrics from "I shot the sheriff" by Bob Marley -- A simple explanation of the afterlife / Victor LaValle, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Aluminum" by the White Stripes -- The eternal Helen / Heidi Julavits, inspired by the music and lyrics from "I found a reason" by the Velvet Underground as performed by Cat Power -- Swampthroat / Arthur Bradford, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Highway to hell" by AC/DC -- Bouncing / Jennifer Belle, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Graceland" by Paul Simon -- Graffiti monk / Ernesto Quiñonez, inspired by the music and lyrics from "The message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five -- Smoking inside / Darin Strauss, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Remedy" by the Black Crowes -- The system / Judy Budnitz, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Way down in the hole" by Tom Waits -- Four last songs / David Ebershoff, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Four last songs" by Herman Hesse and composer Richard Strauss -- Dying on the vine / Elissa Shappell, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Dying on the vine" by John Cale -- Rio / Zev Borow, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Rio" by Duran Duran -- King Heroin / Nelson George, inspired by the music and lyrics from "King Heroin" by James Brown -- The bodies of boys / Julianna Baggott, inspired by the music and lyrics from "Spirit in the night" by Bruce Springsteen.

Page views of Lester Bangs by language

Over the past year Lester Bangs has had the most page views in the with 143,381 views, followed by Italian (6,182), and German (4,976). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Romanian (80.27%), Ukrainian (60.48%), and Finnish (59.53%)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Lester Bangs ranks 6,186 out of 7,302Before him are George Woodcock, Maria Teresa Horta, Gillian Flynn, Albert Kivikas, Stephen Vincent Benét, and Kurt Marti. After him are Beryl Bainbridge, Alan Hollinghurst, Amory Lovins, Alan Garner, Dmitry Gordon, and John Barbour.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1948, Lester Bangs ranks 639Before him are Patricia A. McKillip, Marcia Strassman, Adolfas Šleževičius, Bob Lanier, Len Wein, and T Bone Burnett. After him are Mildrette Netter, Susan Bernard, Lewis Black, Alf Hansen, Élie Doté, and Sven-Åke Lundbäck. Among people deceased in 1982, Lester Bangs ranks 285Before him are Otto von Porat, Henri Dulieux, Wiesław Maniak, Alfons Dorfner, Humphrey Searle, and Alexander Hurd. After him are Rab Butler, Eric Brandon, Claudio Barrientos, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, William Cameron Townsend, and Katherine Rawls.

Others Born in 1948

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Others Deceased in 1982

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Lester Bangs ranks 10,638 out of 20,380Before him are Lesley Ashburner (1883), Stephen Vincent Benét (1898), Ward Kimball (1914), Xavier Becerra (1958), Jason Earles (1977), and Donny Osmond (1957). After him are Francis X. Bushman (1883), Thomas S. Gates Jr. (1906), Chuck Billy (1962), Justin McCarthy (1899), Joanna Going (1963), and Arthur Jensen (1923).

Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Lester Bangs ranks 791Before him are Anthony Doerr (1973), George Saunders (1958), David McCullough (1933), Maxine Kumin (1925), Gillian Flynn (1971), and Stephen Vincent Benét (1898). After him are Amory Lovins (1947), Mike Godwin (1956), Alain LeRoy Locke (1885), Lorraine Hansberry (1930), Glenn Greenwald (1967), and Emma Willard (1787).