In the mid-1960s, the emergence of the powerful Marshall amplifiers enabled musicians to turn up the volume – and effectively transformed pop music into rock.

The rock world has promised to "crank it up to 11" to mark the death of Jim Marshall, the "Father of Loud", whose groundbreaking amplifiers gave the gift of extreme volume to generations of guitar heroes.

Jim Marshall, whose guitar amplifiers were used by some of the biggest names in rock, has died aged 88.

The self-styled Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure has another project on the go: his own movie. Chris Stevenson meets John Otway

An album signed by John Lennon hours before he was shot dead has fetched £23,750 at auction.

If Tommy was made of bricks and mortar it would be Grade I listed by now. The tale of the deaf, dumb and blind kid with messianic tendencies is heritage rock, as safely establishment as the Albert Hall itself.

Pete Townshend wishes he had never joined The Who.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary re-release of The Who Live at Leeds, Elisa Bray looks at the history of one of the greatest live albums ever, while musicians choose the albums that define the genre for them

1960 The birth of an icon

Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, examines the influence of Jon Venables' background on his return to prison

Chris Difford created a canon of clever, catchy pop hits with Glenn Tilbrook. He tells Elisa Bray why the duo have buried their differences to write, record, and tour again

Tipped to be England captain until he broke his shoulder a year ago, Tom Rees could once again be the missing piece of Martin Johnson's jigsaw.

Their generation? Bus-pass holders heading for the Zimmer. Yet tonight, resurgent in the US after five decades in the business, they play the Super Bowl. Barney Hoskyns salutes The Who