Brad Tolinski

Brad Tolinski (born 1958) is an American journalist who was the editor-in-chief of Guitar World Magazine for 25 years (1989–2015). He also served as editorial director of NewBay Media's music division, which also includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver magazines. He then moved to Harris Publications as the editorial director of special projects, and then became editorial director of special projects for AMG Parade in New York City. Currently he is a writer and author of several acclaimed books, His most recent release is 'MC5: The Oral Biography of Rock's Most Revolutionary Band,' out October 8, 2024.

Tolinski was born in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. He studied journalism and philosophy at Wayne State University (1976–1981). In 1985, Tolinski moved to New York City and started working at We Buy Guitars, a guitar shop on 48th Street. He left after a few months and started working at the Digital Music Center, one of the first recording studios in New York that used Apple computers to sample, sequence and record.

While working at the studio, Tolinski started writing for an independent music magazine called Music, Computers and Software. He interviewed musicians such as Roger Waters, Stewart Copeland and Joe Jackson. In 1986, Tolinski became the managing editor of the magazine. In 1988, he was recruited to work on a short-lived electronic music publication called Modern Keyboard that folded after just a few issues.

In September 1989, Tolinski joined Guitar World as associate editor to help straighten out circulation problems. When the editor-in-chief Joe Bosso left in March 1991 to pursue a record industry A&R job, Tolinski was installed into his position.

“I wanted the magazine to convey to readers that we understood what it means to play guitar and be in a band,” said Tolinski in an interview with Rockcritic.com, “We work together like a band – everyone feels like they play important roles in a creative collective, not like some industrial cog. There’s lots of pressures at times, but it’s also fun – and I believe our readers are intuitively hip to that, because it shows up in our writing design, headlines and photographs.”

Tolinski was also the editorial director of Future US’s music division, which includes Guitar Aficionado and Revolver. He was heavily involved in the launch of Revolver in the spring of 2000, when it was launched as a general interest rock magazine. After that was discontinued by then-owner Harris Publications, Tolinski decided to turn Revolver into a heavy metal magazine.

Tom Beaujour, Greg Di Benedetto, and Tolinski were deeply involved in creating Guitar Aficionado. He says, “[We] noticed that as players matured, their tastes in music and how they viewed the instrument changed. Guitar Aficionado is just a reflection of that. It’s not necessarily ‘high-end.’ You don't have to be a millionaire to be interested in travel, food, fashion or beautiful guitars.”

In 2012 Guitar World, Guitar Aficionado and Revolver magazines were purchased by NewBay Media. This publishing company also holds several other U.S. music titles, including Guitar Player, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Keyboard Magazine, Mix Magazine, and more. Shortly after this transition, Tolinski was named editorial director of the music group. He continued as editor in chief of Guitar World.