Alan Lewis is a former newspaper editor who started his career in local newspapers. He joined Melody Maker in 1969 before moving to Sounds, where he founded the heavy metal magazine Kerrang! He also worked for NME, No1 and Vox and was founder-editor of Black Music magazine. He played a role in the launch of Loaded and Uncut magazines, and helped to develop the periodical Family History Monthly. He retired from music newspaper editing in 2011, while editor-in-chief of Record Collector.