Ritchie Yorke (12 January 1944 – 6 February 2017) was an Australian-born author, broadcaster, historian and music journalist, whose work was widely published in the U.S., UK, Canada and elsewhere.

[2] He prepared record deals for, and managed Australian pop star Normie Rowe prior to his arrival in England.

[3] In December 1966, Yorke began working for Island Records as an international promotion manager for the Spencer Davis Group.

[2] He found work with the Toronto Telegram before being appointed the first full-time rock writer for Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail.

[7] Yorke also carried the posters alongside rock musician and friend Ronnie Hawkins in a 52,000 mile world tour as the Lennons’ official peace envoy.

[8] This five week tour even had them carry and display the posters illegally across the Chinese border near Hong Kong where they were stopped by Red Guards and solemnly warned they would be shot if they did not leave.

He also appears on the Bad Manors album by Crowbar, credited with playing the anvil on "Prince Of Peace" and tambourine on "Oh What A Feeling”.

[10] Yorke was partly responsible for the introduction of the Canadian Content legislation that was instated in 1971, acting as a major advocate of the policy from a music industry point of view.

[16] Early in 1976 he released the widely acclaimed book The History of Rock ’n’ Roll to coincide with the CHUM produced documentary of the same name he had been working on,[17] as well as publishing The Led Zeppelin Biography.

[2] He has written biographies on Led Zeppelin and Van Morrison and also written for publications including TV Week Australia, Grapevine Magazine, Big Night Out, Brisbane Times, The Courier-Mail, Go-Set, Juke Magazine, Pix, Strangelove, The Sunday Mail (Brisbane) and Time Off.

In the U.S. he regularly contributed to, or was syndicated in Billboard, Hit Parader Magazine, Circus Magazine, Gannett Newspapers, the Boston Globe, Chicago Daily News, Detroit Free Press, Rainbow Magazine, Hit Parader, Houston Post, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Free Press, Rolling Stone, Winnipeg Free Press, Washington Post and Zoo World.