In 1987 Lonn Friend began a 7-year run as editor-in-chief of RIP Magazine and built the publication into the most important hard rock magazine of its day. He hosted his own spot, "Friend at Large," on MTV's Headbanger's Ball as well as the syndicated Westwood One radio program, Pirate Radio Saturday Night. He penned weekly columns for the powerful industry tip sheets, HITS and the Album Network and co authored the Rolling Stone cover story on Slash from Guns N' Roses (with Jeffrey Ressner).

Mr. Friend served as music supervisor for Adam Sandler's motion picture debut, Airheads, starring Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi, and later became vice president, A&R, West Coast, for Arista Records from 1994 to 1998. He composed the liner notes for Mötley Crüe's Decade of Decadence, Bon Jovi's One Wild Night and Dio: Stand Up and Shout (The Anthology). He is a frequent contributor to VH1 having appeared in 10 Behind the Music/documentary episodes including Metallica, Bon Jovi, The Year 1987, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crue, Anthrax, The Top 40 Hair Metal Bands of All Time and When Metal Ruled the World. His memoir, Life On Planet Rock was recently published by Morgan Road. Mr. Friend is a veteran insider and confidant to artists and executives alike.

Lonn has a daughter, Megan, and they have watched School of Rock and Almost Famous together at least a dozen times.