John Michael Erlewine (; born July 18, 1941) is an American musician, astrologer, TV host, photographer, publisher, and Internet entrepreneur who founded the music online database site AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide) in 1991.
Biography
Early life
Erlewine was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he has had several careers. As a musician, he was active in the Michigan folk music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1961, he hitchhiked with Bob Dylan, and traveled to Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York; Venice, a Los Angeles neighborhood; and San Francisco.
Music career
Erlewine, along with his younger brother Dan began a blues band called the Prime Movers, which regularly played in Chicago; other members included "Blue" Gene Tyranny (Robert Sheff). When the drummer left, the band replaced him with Iggy Pop (James Osterberg), then 18 years old. The Prime Movers gave him the nickname "Iggy" as he had played in the band The Iguanas. According to biographer Jim Ambrose, the two years Osterberg which was in the band made him aware of "art, politics, and experimentation."
Astrology
In 1977, Erlewine founded Matrix Software. He was the first person to program astrology on microcomputers and make astrological programs available to the astrological community. He has published more than forty books on astrology and related topics.
Honours
Michael Erlewine and his band, the Prime Movers, were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2015.
Family
Erlewine and his wife have four children including musician May Erlewine. He is the uncle of music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine.
All Music Guide
In the 1990s, Erlewine founded the All Music Guide (allmusic.com), the All Movie Guide (allmovie.com), and the All Game Guide (allgame.com). The first site in particular has become an important popular music reference which licenses its content to numerous other websites. Erlewine regained control of Matrix Software (astrologysoftware.com) in November 2008 and is the director of the company.
Publications
- Erlewine, Michael, 1980, "Astrological programming manual", American Federation of Astrologers, Tempe, Arizona
- Erlewine, Michael, 1992, "All-Music Guide", editor (Miller-Freeman)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1999, "All-Music Guide to the Blues", editor (Miller-Freeman)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1999, "All-Music Guide to Rock", editor (Miller-Freeman)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1997, "All-Music Guide to Country", editor (Miller-Freeman)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1996, "All-Music Guide to Jazz", editor (Miller-Freeman)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1976, "The Sun Is Shining", paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1976, "Astrophysical Directions", paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1976, "Interface: Planetary NodesâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1981, âÂÂLocal Space: Relocation AstrologyâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, âÂÂTibetan Earth Lords: Tibetan Astrology and GeomancyâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2007, âÂÂAstrology's Mirror: Full-Phase AspectsâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1998, âÂÂOur Pilgrimage to TibetâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 1980, âÂÂBurn Rate: Retrogrades in AstrologyâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2005, âÂÂMother Moon: Astrology of 'The Lights'âÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2007, âÂÂInterpret Astrology: The 360 3-Way CombinationsâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2007, âÂÂInterpret Astrology: The House CombinationsâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2007, âÂÂInterpret Astrology: The Planetary CombinationsâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2008, âÂÂAstrology of the Heart: Astro-ShamanismâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2008, âÂÂThe Astrology of SpaceâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2008, âÂÂStarTypes: Life-Path PartnersâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2008, âÂÂHow to Learn AstrologyâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2008, âÂÂThe Art of Feng ShuiâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2008, âÂÂTibetan AstrologyâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2010, âÂÂExperiences with MahamudraâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2010, âÂÂNature in the BackyardâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael, 2010, âÂÂDharma PoemsâÂÂ, paperback (Heart Center Publications)
- Erlewine, Michael and Stanley Livingston, 2010, âÂÂBlues in Black & White: The Landmark Ann Arbor Blues FestivalsâÂÂ, paperback (University of Michigan Press)
References
External links