The Rocket

The Rocket was a Seattle music and entertainment magazine that published over 300 issues from 1979 through 2000. It was the first publication to cover Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and other Northwest bands that would later become superstars. Many of the band members of those groups found other bandmembers by advertising in The Rocket's musician personals. For over two decades, The Rocket was the central clearinghouse for Northwest music and entertainment.

The Los Angeles Reader called The Rocket "the best regional music magazine in America," and in the Northwest musicians anticipated each issue to see what was written about them. Sub Pop, which would later become one of the most famous independent record labels of all-time, began as a column in The Rocket (both Sub Pop's logo and Nirvana's were created on the typesetting machine at The Rocket). The "musicians wanted" ads in The Rocket were central to the scene, and Kurt Cobain, like virtually every other musician in the area, placed ads several times looking for Nirvana in the paper. In Cameron Crowe's iconic movie "Singles," Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder is seen reading The Rocket, and is disappointed that his review is not more positive.

The Rocket began in Seattle initially as a supplement to the underground weekly the Seattle Sun, but after a year the magazine broke off to be its own operation and expanded (the Seattle Sun folded thereafter). The Rocket was circulated regionally from Seattle to Portland to Vancouver, B.C. for nearly 22 years. In the nineties, a separate Portland edition of the paper was created as well. The magazine had a circulation high of 150,000 copies, which made its reach larger than almost all publications in Washington state, other than daily newspapers.

Though The Rocket was best known for its music coverage, the paper also wrote about film, pop culture, and other arts. The Rocket helped break bands, and chronicled the rise of Grunge, but the paper itself was a breeding ground for talent. Many of the editors, writers, and artists who worked on the paper went on to critical acclaim. The first Editor in Chief of The Rocket of the paper was Robert Ferrigno, who became a best-selling crime novelist. The second Editor was Robert Newman, who later became the Art Director of the Village Voice. Charles R. Cross was Editor of The Rocket from 1986 to 2000, and has written nine books, three of them bestsellers. National Public Radio (NPR) music critic Ann Powers started as an intern in high school working for The Rocket. John Keister began his professional career as an editor at The Rocket, and went on to host the long-running popular comedy show "Almost Live," using some of his stories from his days at The Rocket in skits.

The Rocket was one of the first places to publish the art of Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons" television series. His contribution to the paper, the comic panel "Life In Hell", was a longstanding Rocket feature. Lynda Barry, who became a noted writer, illustrator, and teacher, was an early frequent contributor. Art Chantry, longtime Rocket art director, is such a notable designer that he's been the subject of films and books.

Though The Rocket went out of business in 2000, the impact of what the paper helped create with Northwest music remains important in cultural history.