Dave Marsh, rock critic, biographer and co-founder of E Street Radio, died on 14 August at his home in Norwalk, Connecticut, aged 76, according to Rolling Stone. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed.
The news was confirmed on social media on 15 August by Jim Rotolo, Marsh’s longtime co-host on the Springsteen-focused SiriusXM station E Street Radio. ‘Some sad news today, E Street Nation,’ Rotolo wrote. ‘Bruce Springsteen biographer, SiriusXM host, and my friend Dave Marsh passed away late yesterday at his home in Connecticut. Dave wrote several books about Bruce as part of a remarkable body of work spanning some 25 titles.’
How Dave Marsh Rock Critic Career Began in Detroit
Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Marsh helped launch Creem shortly after dropping out of Wayne State University in 1969, working alongside writers including Lester Bangs and channelling his passion for Detroit’s music into the magazine’s pages. He left Creem in 1973, joining Newsday as music editor before rising to associate editor at Rolling Stone, where he became known for reviews that pulled no punches. (He once dubbed Queen ‘the first truly fascist rock band.’) He also wrote for the Village Voice.
The breadth of what he produced across five decades is staggering. Beyond the Springsteen canon, Marsh published what is considered the definitive biography of the Who, Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who, in 1983. He authored anthologies including The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made and Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World’s Most Famous Rock ‘n’ Roll Song. In 1983 he founded the long-running newsletter Rock and Roll Confidential, later rebranded as Rap and Rock Confidential. A Grammy followed in 1993 for the album notes he wrote for Aretha Franklin’s Queen of Soul. He also served a 26-year stint on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee.
The Springsteen Relationship That Defined a Career
Marsh was an early and vocal champion of Springsteen, regularly lauding him in Creem before most critics had clocked what was happening, and infamously bringing critic Jon Landau to his first Springsteen concert in 1974. He wrote the Boss’s first major cover story for Rolling Stone in 1978, and the following year published Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, one of the earliest and most influential Springsteen biographies. He updated it multiple times, most recently in 2003. The connection became a family one too: Marsh’s wife, Barbara Carr, served as one of Springsteen’s co-managers for decades.
Springsteen paid tribute in a statement: ‘My great friend Dave, with his straight out of Detroit attitude, was a true Rock ‘n’ Roll lifer. He was soulful, intelligent, heartfelt, opinionated, bruising and often fantastically argumentative. Watching Jon Landau and Dave drive each other crazy over some arcane piece of music would make my day. He wrote the first book about me, Born To Run, and Dave always had my back. He deeply believed in what I was trying to accomplish and his lifetime of support meant the world to me.’ Springsteen added: ‘More than anything else, I admired Dave as a man of conscience and commitment. He lived and stuck by his values come hell or high water.’
Marsh co-founded E Street Radio and hosted multiple shows on the dedicated SiriusXM channel, which will pay tribute to him on Wednesday, 19 August, beginning at 10 AM ET.
The Kristen Ann Carr Fund and a Legacy Beyond Music
Marsh was equally committed outside the press box. After his daughter, Kristen Ann Carr, died in 1991 at age 21 from sarcoma, Marsh co-founded the Kristen Ann Carr Fund to advance sarcoma research, support patients and train young physicians. Springsteen performed at multiple benefit shows for the fund over the years, including a Madison Square Garden concert in 1993 that raised $1.5 million for the fund, according to ABC News.
In 2021, a series of online discussion sessions celebrating Marsh’s work brought together artists including Springsteen, Tom Morello, Pete Townshend, Dion DiMucci, Jackson Browne and Steven Van Zandt, under the title Land of Hope and Dreams: A Celebration of Dave Marsh’s Work and Vision. ‘Dave has always been a tireless advocate of justice, human rights, and rock n roll,’ Morello wrote in an introduction to the series. ‘His pen and voice are an important player in the history of the music we love and the struggle for a more just and decent world.’
A 2023 anthology, Kick Out The Jams: Jibes, Barbs, Tributes, and Rallying Cries from 35 Years of Music Writing, gathered three and a half decades of his output. E Street Radio’s tribute broadcast on 19 August is the scene’s first collective chance to mark the loss of one of rock criticism’s most consequential voices. SiriusXM has not yet announced further programming details.
