Mark Beaumont

Mark Beaumont (born 2 June 1972) is an English music journalist. Career and writing style A contributor to such titles as The Times, Shortlist, The Guardian and Uncut, Beaumont's writings have predominantly appeared in the NME where he has written numerous reviews and interviews since 1995 and has also functioned as the magazine's letters and singles page editor. Considered by NME editor Conor McNicholas one of the title's "star" writers, Beaumont has frequently been assigned the task of reviewing latest releases and gigs from high-profile artists (Arctic Monkeys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Coldplay) and Muse. In his writings, Beaumont has often favoured a caustic, confrontational and at times humorous prose style, especially when writing on artists or records that he does not hold in particularly high regard. He has also been noted for caustic left-wing political opinions, often entirely unrelated to the media being reviewed. In 2021 when reviewing Netflix's 'Chernobyl 1986' Beaumont described the United Kingdom as; 'a country that has overseen over 120,000 largely unnecessary deaths during a national crisis due to the incompetence, lies, contempt for its citizens and rampant cover-ups and cronyism of its extremist government'. In the same article he further describes the 2019 HBO Chernobyl miniseries as being; 'very handy at a time when it might be politically advantageous to conflate the nightmares of communism with the potentials of socialism'.