Eduardo Rivadavia (aka Ed Rivadavia) was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and by his late teens had already toured the world (and elsewhere), learning four languages on three continents. Having also accepted the holy gospel of rock & roll as his lord and savior, Eduardo became infatuated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and all things heavy, crude, and obnoxious while living in Milan, Italy, during the mid-1980s. At this time, he also made his journalistic debut as sole writer, editor, publisher, and, some would claim, reader of his high school's heavy metal fanzine, earning the scorn of jocks and nerds alike, but uniting the small hardcore music-loving contingent into a frenzied mob that spent countless hours exchanging tapes, talking shop, and getting beat up at concerts. Upon returning home to Brazil, Eduardo resumed a semi-normal existence, sporadically contributing music articles to local papers and magazines while earning his business degree. Finally, after years of obsessive musical fandom and at peace with his distinct lack of musical talent, Eduardo decided the time had come to infiltrate the music industry by the fire escape. He quit his boring corporate job, relocated to America, earned his master's degree while suffering the iniquities of interning for free (anything for rock & roll!), and eventually began working for various record labels, accumulating mountains of records and (seemingly) useless rock trivia in the process. This eventually led him back to writing, and he has regularly contributed articles to multiple websites since 1999, working with many different rock genres but specializing, as always, in his personal hobby: hard rock and heavy metal. To quote from the insightful 'This Is Spinal Tap': "People should be jealous of me...I'm jealous of me...." Eduardo currently resides in Austin, TX, with his wife, two daughters, and far more records, CDs and MP3s than he'll ever have time to listen to.
Eduardo Rivadavia
How ZZ Top Broke Through With ‘Tres Hombres’
ZZ Top's 'Tres Hombres,' released on July 26, 1973, finally hurtled the Texas band to stardom.
How Metallica Transformed Metal With ‘Kill ‘Em All’
In order to get there, the band first had to abandon their hometown of Los Angeles.
How Stevie Ray Vaughan Addressed Addiction on ‘In Step’
A sense of not-quite-finished business made his tragic death a few years later even more difficult to accept.
When Led Zeppelin Began Recording ‘In Through the Out Door’
They'd been sidelined for years by personal issues, including the death of singer Robert Plant's son.
How Monsters of Rock Became America’s Super-Sized Tour
The shows brought together some of the greatest hard rock and heavy metal bands. But why that name, exactly?
Why Jefferson Airplane Were Once Barred From Playing a Free Show
A later incarnation of the band used this moment as inspiration for a chart-topping single.
Black Sabbath Albums Ranked Worst to Best
A countdown of all of Black Sabbath's studio LPs.
40 Years Ago: Iron Maiden Comes Into Their Own on ‘Piece of Mind’
It all began with the simple decision to lobotomize their mascot.
The History of New Wave of British Heavy Metal
The entire movement really only lasted two or three years, but it had a huge impact.
How Heaven & Hell Rekindled Black Sabbath on ‘The Devil You Know’
Though boasting another name, this band featured the heavy-metal godfathers' second-most celebrated lineup.
How Robin Trower Reinvented the Power Trio on ‘Bridge of Sighs’
Robin Trower's power trio masterpiece, 'Bridge of Sighs,' was released in April 1974.
How David Lee Roth Detained a Knife-Wielding Intruder at His House
On April 26, 2003, someone climbed the 10-foot fence onto David Lee Roth's property.