Chet Flippo

Chester White "Chet" Flippo (October 21, 1943 – June 19, 2013) was an American music journalist and biographer.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, he graduated from Sam Houston State University in 1965, serving thereafter in the U.S. Navy in intelligence.

[1][2] During the 1970s, Flippo interviewed and wrote extensively on many of the rock stars of the era, including John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.

Notably, in the early and mid 1970s he wrote approvingly about such country musicians as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Dolly Parton, helping to facilitate their crossover appeal to a wider rock-oriented audience.

In 2001, he joined Country Music Television (CMT) as its editorial director, and wrote the influential column Nashville Skyline.