Early years Hit Parader was launched in 1942 Along with the likes of
Billboard,
DownBeat and
Song Hits,
Hit Parader was among the first and longest-lasting American music magazines. The magazine's title referenced the popular music "
hit parade", a list of current
hit singles determined either by sales or airplay. In its early years, the magazine largely consisted of lyrics to the hit songs of the day, a practice that remained until 1975 when licensing of the rights became too expensive. From that point onward it featured interviews, color photos, and feature articles on popular rock musicians.
Emergence of rock music For much of the 1960s, Jim Delehant worked as a staff writer and editor for the magazine. According to his recollection,
Hit Parader covered "an extremely boring music scene" in the early 60s prior to the emergence of hugely popular rock groups such as
the Beatles and
the Beach Boys in 1964. At that time, it was a common practice among music magazines to write fake articles pieced together from sources such as bios and publicity material distributed by the record companies.
Hit Parader employed traveling rock journalists who spent time with the artists and wrote legitimate feature articles about them. In addition to Delehant's contributions,
Hit Parader also published articles by music journalists Ellen Sander, Keith Altham and
Derek Taylor. Over the following decade, its contributors included
Nick Logan,
Barbara Charone,
Lenny Kaye,
Jonh Ingham, and
Alan Betrock. Secher recognized the magazine's target demographic as the young suburban male, whom he referred to as "some 17-year-old kid in Iowa, not a socialite in Manhattan", and attributed
Hit Parader's longevity and success to its ability to anticipate trends in music months in advance. By 1984, the magazine was focusing solely on heavy metal. Rose and Bach both claimed that
Hit Parader editor Andy Secher was misleading his readers with such tactics. With the dramatic decline in the popularity of heavy metal in the 1990s,
Hit Parader's monthly readership began a steady decline. Many observers have noted that everything changed almost overnight with the emergence of
Nirvana and
grunge music in 1991, and Secher agrees wholeheartedly with this conclusion. Of the magazine's 1970s and 1980s heyday, Secher has said "The stories are too many, and in some cases too wild, to be printed here." The use of the Hit Parader brand remained rather inactive other than its use sponsoring festivals such as 2024's relaunch of the
Mayhem Festival.
Relaunch of print magazine On October 2, 2025 the musician
Yungblud announced that he would be the initial cover on the relaunch of Hit Parader. He went on to state "Honoured to be on the first cover of the revamped Hit Parader! I grew up with this magazine and the legends that were on the cover. Available in print now." The first edition of the magazine was released in October with monthly editions set to be released thereafter. Alongside this announcement, it was revealed that Yungblud played a surprise event at the private Hit Parader Club in
Nashville, Tennessee for the final stop on his IDOLS Tour in the United States on September 25, 2025. Subsequent issues released have featured artists like
Orville Peck and
Zedd on the cover. ==References==