Hibbert first wrote for
home improvement publications, in the late 1970s, and then for
New Music News, a short-lived magazine published by
Felix Dennis. Between 1982 and 1984, he contributed to
The History of Rock. In 1983, he joined the staff of
Smash Hits. In the description of his editor,
Mark Ellen: "[Hibbert] helped invent a cartoon fantasy world in which everyone interviewed seemed to exhibit the same slapstick characteristics. All his subjects –
Paul McCartney,
David Bowie,
Bucks Fizz,
John Lydon – were delightfully over-exaggerated, as mischievous and eccentric as their interrogator." and "Horrible Headband" for
Mark Knopfler. Hibbert later said: "It sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet but yes, I did [invent
Smash Hits lingo]. Before I got there in 1983 there was none of that." The success of
Smash Hits encouraged the British prime minister,
Margaret Thatcher, to sit for an interview with Hibbert in the lead-up to the
1987 general election. In the late 1980s, Hibbert followed Ellen to
Q. Although the magazine was aimed at an older age group and more respectful to established rock stars, Hibbert's contributions retained an element of irreverence. His interviews in the "Who the Hell …?" series led to him travelling around the world.
Jeremy Beadle,
Jeffrey Archer,
Robert Maxwell,
Samantha Fox,
Keith Floyd,
Bernard Manning and
David Mellor. In the early 1990s, Hibbert's interviews also appeared in the American magazine
Details. He subsequently contributed to
Mojo, another
Emap title edited by Ellen, from 1993 onwards. ==Illness and death==