Christian John Wikane is a New York City based music journalist and essayist. Since 2003, he has interviewed over 500 recording artists, songwriters, and producers, including Paul McCartney, Janelle Monáe, Donna Summer, Pete Seeger, Annie Lennox, Maurice White, Jimmy Scott, Carly Simon, and Kenny Gamble. He is currently a Contributing Editor at PopMatters, an online magazine of cultural criticism, and Co-Producer of the video series "Unscripted: Conversations with Christian John Wikane", which features his interviews with Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award winning artists. He recently had the honor of contributing to HBO's Emmy Award nominated Tina Turner documentary, "Tina" (2021), and serving as History Consultant on "Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over" (2021).
Christian has had the privilege of curating and moderating several events at the Apollo Theater for Apollo Education's "Live Wire" series, including "Legendary: A Conversation with Dionne Warwick and Melba Moore"; "Bold Soul Sisters", a panel discussion featuring Nona Hendryx, Ruth Pointer, Kathy Sledge, and Rochelle Fleming; and "She's a Rebel: An Interview with Martha Reeves, Sarah Dash, and Joshie Jo Armstead".
Among other live events, Christian has moderated "From Studio 54 to Number One" for the Brooklyn Museum's "Studio 54" exhibit, plus "The Soulfulness of David Bowie" featuring Carlos Alomar and Robin Clark, as part of Brooklyn Museum's "David Bowie is" exhibit and Stevens Institute of Technology's CAL Dean's Lecture Series. Most recently, he conducted a Q&A with disco legends D.C. LaRue and Felipe Rose (original Co-Founder and Native of Village People) for Queer/Art/Film's screening of the Motown-Casablanca film "Thank God It's Friday" (1978) at IFC Center, and hosted a conversation with West End legend Ray Shell at SpoonFed NYC to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Starlight Express".
Since 2010, Christian has authored extensive liner notes for more than 200 album re-issues by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Grammy Award winners, and other icons of R&B, rock, dance, pop, and jazz. He has also conducted interviews for several BBC Radio documentaries, Sirius XM's "Studio 54" channel, Chase Bank ("Inside Access"), and hosted/produced more than a dozen concerts at Joe's Pub (The Public Theater), Blue Note Jazz Club, The Iridium, and Wölffer Estate Vineyard. He's guest lectured for Barnard College's "Harlem Semester" program and presented at EMP Pop Conference, Parrish Art Museum, Apollo Education's "Master Class" series, and NYU Steinhardt's Department of Music. He's the sole author of "Casablanca Records: Play It Again", a 50,000-word oral history that documented the 35th anniversary of Casablanca Records.
Last Updated: March 9, 2022
