During her first years in L.A, among the hundreds of artists she interviewed were AC/DC, Rod Stewart, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Muddy Waters, Steely Dan, Blondie, Frank Zappa, Tom Petty, Beach Boys, Van Halen, Kiss, and Michael Jackson.
In 1981 when Sounds editor Geoff Barton founded the UK heavy metal magazine Kerrang!, he asked Simmons to be its L.A correspondent.
Grove/Atlantic resurrected its Black Cat imprint (previously home to William S. Burroughs and Henry Miller) to publish Simmons' first collection of fiction.
The book bore testimonials from Sharon Osbourne, Marianne Faithfull, Slash of Guns N' Roses, Lemmy of Motörhead and Tori Amos, and was widely praised.
Her Interviews during this period included Tom Waits; Neil Young; Johnny Cash; Leonard Cohen; Brian Wilson; Peter Gabriel; David Byrne; PJ Harvey; Keith Richards; Kate Bush; and Bo Diddley.
In 1997 Simmons inaugurated MOJO's influential "Americana" column to give more exposure to the new wave of independent roots music by artists.
[8] Simmons compiled and/or curated a number of liner notes for artists ranging from David Bowie to Leonard Cohen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
She continued to write and publish interviews, articles, reviews, for MOJO, The Guardian, various European publications, and during her early years in Frisco, her local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle.
Her interviews during this period included Joan Baez; the Eagles; Marianne Faithfull; Jackson Browne; Kris Kristofferson; Willie Nelson; Crosby Stills & Nash; Neil Diamond; Rosanne Cash; Glen Campbell.
In 2010 Simmons was featured in the movie The Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog, talking about the upsurge of interest in the ukulele.
Simmons had played piano, recorder, clarinet, and guitar at various times in her life, but when she moved to San Francisco she left her instruments in storage in England.
I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen[13] was published in September 2012 by Ecco/Harper Collins in the US, McClelland & Stewart in Canada and Jonathan Cape/Random House in the UK.
[22] Although the tour officially ended with the release of the paperback edition of the book in September 2013, she continues to play Leonard Cohen shows at special events.
In 2017, Simmons was invited to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal be keynote speaker and a panelist at a major exhibition dedicated to Leonard Cohen Une Breche en Toute Chose/A Crack in Everything.
In interviews she said that performing Leonard Cohen songs on her book tour cured her of the stage fright that put a stop to her being a singer in her youth, and had led to her decision to write about music instead.
She recorded her debut album, Sylvie, at Wavelab Studio in Tucson, AZ, produced by Howe Gelb of Giant Sand.
[32] In 2018 Simmons' songs, "Hard Act To Follow", appeared in the Hollywood movie based on the Nick Hornby book "Juliet, Naked.
[37] Her articles on rock and interviews were featured in anthologies on Joni Mitchell; Lou Reed; Leonard Cohen; Steely Dan; Fleetwood Mac; and Tom Waits.
(Ecco, US; Jonathan Cape, UK; McClelland & Stewart, Canada) 2018 Updated edition (Vinage, UK; McClelland, Canada)[38] Translations: Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, French-Canadian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Turkish, Taiwanese.
2003 Johnny Cash: Unearthed (American Recordings) 2001 Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes.. (Helter Skelter UK; 2002 Da Capo, US.
Biography (UK and US (MOJO/Canongate)[39] Books co-written by Sylvie Simmons 2019 Face It by Debbie Harry and Sylvie Simmons (Dey St, US)[40] 1994 Lüde Crüde and Rüde:- The Story of Mötley Crüe - by Sylvie Simmons and Malcolm Dome (Castle Communications) ISBN 9781898141952 Anthologies: featuring essays or articles by Sylvie Simmons Joni on Joni: Interviews with Joni Mitchell (2019)[41] - essay/interview My Week Beats Your Year: Encounters with Lou Reed (2019)[42] Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything (2018)[43] Major Dudes: A Steely Dan Companion (2018)[44] Visions from the Tower of Song: Essays (2017)[45] Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac (2016)[46] Faith: Essays from Believers, Agnostics and Atheists (2015)[47] Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters (2011)[48] 1000 Songs to Change Your Life (2008)[49] Creem: America's Only Rock 'N Roll Magazine (2007)[50] London Noir (2006)[51] Let Fury Have the Hour: the Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer (2004)[52] The MOJO Collection: Ultimate Music Companion (2000)[53] Kiss: Modern Icons (1997)[54] Girls Will Be Boys: Women Report on Rock (1997)[55] The Virgin Story of Rock n Roll (1995)[56]