[1][2] On August 1, 1979, publishers Tom Bartel and Kristin Henning debuted Sweet Potato, a monthly newspaper focused on the Twin Cities music scene.

[4] On May 6, 2015, City Pages was sold to Star Tribune Media Co., publisher of the Minneapolis daily newspaper of the same name.

The company said it could no longer sustain the newspaper after the coronavirus outbreak forced closings and downsizings of the events, nightclubs, bars and restaurants that were its chief advertisers and financial base.

[1] The publication has been criticized by Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano, who called a story about her "racist" and "sexist.

"[10] In her 2015 memoir, musician Carrie Brownstein asserted sexism in the paper's music coverage in the '90s, citing City Pages among "a representative sample of journalism about Sleater-Kinney.