Ed Ochs 1945 – 2026

Ed Ochs passed away on October 20, 2026 after an extended illness, but his incredible legacy will live on.

Ochs began his career in 1967 as a cub reporter at Billboard, rising to Rhythm & Blues editor. He launched the influential “Soul Sauce” column and successfully pushed for the R&B charts to be renamed the Soul charts in 1969.

He partnered with legendary manager Shep Gordon on inventive promotional campaigns for major rock acts, including the distinctive Rorschach-themed biography for Alice Cooper’s From the Inside and a fictionalized guide for Blondie’s Eat to the Beat.

In the 1980s he returned to Billboard as editorial director for special issues, overseeing major retrospectives on icons such as Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Barbra Streisand. He also co-wrote the groundbreaking punk program New Wave Theatre with David Jove, giving early national exposure to Southern California’s underground scene and artists including Bad Religion, the Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, and X.

Ochs later served as senior editor at Hits Magazine, analyzing the industry’s shift from vinyl to cassettes and emerging digital formats. In the mid-1990s he became U.S. editor of Music Business International, writing in-depth profiles of power brokers such as Clive Davis and Michael Koch, as well as a feature on Garth Brooks.

From 1996 to 1998 he was executive editor and director of special issues at MultiMedia Merchandising. He went on to contribute to GameWEEK and Video Store Magazine, then helped launch the digital entertainment site “The Hive” in 2000 as senior editor and director of content.

From 2006 to 2013 he published the local newspaper The ROCK in Los Osos, California, and briefly ran for the Los Osos Community Services District, using his journalistic skills to advocate for community infrastructure and voting rights.

In his later years he turned to writing books, including This Rock Can Talk (2010), Freedom Spy: David Jove and The Meaning of Existence (2012), and Rock Around the Sun (2018). He lived on California’s Central Coast, managed independent editorial projects, archived his music-industry work, and for the past decade served as editor of VFX Voice for the Visual Effects Society.