Jon Landau

Jon Landau (born May 1947) is an American music critic, manager and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen.

He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As a critic, Landau wrote for Rolling Stone from its first issue and for other publications. In Volume 1, Number 1 of Rolling Stone, published on 9 November 1967, Landau compared Jimi Hendrix and his debut album, Are You Experienced, to Eric Clapton and Cream's debut album, Fresh Cream (both released months before, and both Jimi and Cream having made huge American splashes as live performers that summer). The next few issues saw Landau staking out more traditional R&B and soul territory with profiles of Aretha Franklin, and Sam and Dave, plus a posthumous Otis Redding appreciation.

Landau's prophetic 1974 article in The Real Paper, wherein he famously claimed, "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen," is credited by Nick Hornby and others with fostering Springsteen's popularity. Landau was then hired by Springsteen, and is cited as co-producer on Springsteen studio records from 1975's Born to Run through 1992's Human Touch and Lucky Town. He is considered to have influenced Springsteen artistically as well as professionally.

In 2011, Landau had a growth in his brain surgically removed. The surgery resulted in the loss of sight in one eye.

Other artists that Landau has managed and/or produced include MC5, Livingston Taylor, Jackson Browne, Natalie Merchant, Alejandro Escovedo, and Shania Twain, among others.