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Jon Pareles

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Jon Pareles

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  • In 2025, The Hollywood Reporter described Jon Pareles as "one of the most influential reviewers of the music business." Born in Connecticut in 1953, Pareles spent more than four decades writing about popular music professionally. Yale University was his starting point.

  • Pareles played jazz flute and piano. He graduated from Yale University in 1974 with a degree in music, having spent those years engaging with music from every possible angle. He wrote about it for the student newspaper, making arguments in print about what he heard. He played the Harkness Tower carillon. He DJed for the campus radio station. Performance, criticism, and broadcasting occupied him simultaneously during those years. Crawdaddy! magazine would be the first professional outlet to publish his work beyond school.

  • Crawdaddy! was where Pareles worked through the 1970s, serving as an associate editor. In the 1980s, he moved to Rolling Stone, also in an associate editor role, and then became music editor at The Village Voice. By 1982, Pareles had begun contributing to The New York Times, six years before he would be named chief pop music critic.

  • From 1988 to 2025, Pareles held the position of chief popular music critic in the arts section of The New York Times. He reviewed popular music there for thirty-seven years. In 1994, he married Mary Anne Cartelli, a lecturer in Chinese at Hunter College. At the time of their wedding, he had been the chief pop music critic for six years. He would hold the post for more than thirty more.

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20th-century American journalists20th-century American male journalists20th-century American male writers20th-century American non-fiction writers21st-century American male writers21st-century American non-fiction writersAmerican male non-fiction writersYale University alumni

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Common questions

Who is Jon Pareles and what is he known for?

Jon Pareles is an American journalist and music critic born in 1953. He served as chief popular music critic at The New York Times from 1988 to 2025. In 2025, The Hollywood Reporter described him as one of the most influential reviewers of the music business.

What college did Jon Pareles attend?

Pareles attended Yale University, graduating in 1974 with a degree in music. While at Yale, he wrote music criticism for the student newspaper, played the Harkness Tower carillon, and DJed for the campus radio station.

When did Jon Pareles start working at The New York Times?

Pareles began contributing to The New York Times in 1982. He became chief popular music critic in 1988 and held the position until 2025, a tenure of thirty-seven years.

What music publications did Jon Pareles work for before The New York Times?

Before The New York Times, Pareles worked as an associate editor at Crawdaddy! in the 1970s, then as an associate editor at Rolling Stone and music editor at The Village Voice in the 1980s.

What instruments did Jon Pareles play?

Pareles played jazz flute and piano. He also played the Harkness Tower carillon at Yale University.

Who is Jon Pareles married to?

Jon Pareles married Mary Anne Cartelli in 1994. Cartelli is a lecturer in Chinese at Hunter College.

All sources

7 references cited across the entry

  1. 1JournalPareles, JonJ. E. P. — H. W. Wilson Company — November 2008
  2. 2A Wealth of Musical Knowledge: Jon Pareles2014-11-14
  3. 3MagazineMeet the CriticsCarla Hay — Nielsen Business Media, Inc. — March 20, 2004
  4. 4The Grey Lady's Pop Music Man: Jon Pareles in ConversationSteven Ward — July 2001
  5. 5New York Times Culture Desk Shake-Up: Critics Margaret Lyons, Jon Pareles, Jesse Green, Zach Woolfe Reassigned to 'New Roles'Todd Spangler — 2025-07-15
  6. 6New York Times Reassigns Longtime Music, Theater and TV Critics in Surprise MoveAlex Weprin — 2025-07-15
  7. 7NewsWEDDINGS; Ms. Cartelli, Mr. Pareles1994-01-09

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