Ben Fong-Torres | |
|---|---|
 Ben Fong-Torres withDonald Sutherland at theMill Valley Film Festival, 2005 | |
| Born | Fong Chan Ho (1945-01-07)January 7, 1945 (age 80) Alameda, California, US |
| Occupation | Rock journalist, author, andbroadcaster |
| Alma mater | San Francisco State University |
| Notable awards | Deems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing, 1974; N. Calif. Emmy Awards, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2019 |
| Spouse | Dianne Sweet |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Ben Fong-Torres | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fong Chan Ho | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 方振豪 | ||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Fong1 Zan3hou4 | ||||||||||||
| CantoneseYale | Fōng Janhoùh | ||||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Fāng Zhènháo [fáŋ ʈʂə̂nxǎʊ] | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Benjamin Fong-Torres (方振豪;Cantonese: Fong Chan Ho; born January 7, 1945) is an Americanrockjournalist best known for his association withRolling Stone magazine[1] (until 1981) and theSan Francisco Chronicle (from around 1982).[2]
Due to theChinese Exclusion Act, Fong-Torres's father Ricardo (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino to immigrate to theUnited States. The family later adopted the hyphenated surname "Fong-Torres". Ben is the brother of the lateShirley Fong-Torres.[3][4]
He grew up in Oakland, California, where he served as student body president at Westlake Junior High as well as a newspaper reporter/columnist and commissioner of assemblies at Oakland High School.[3]
Fong-Torres, who graduated fromSan Francisco State University in 1966 with a B.A. in radio-TV-film, was a writer and senior editor ofRolling Stone[5] nearly from the magazine's inception.[6]
In 1972, Ben's older brother, Barry, a probation officer and community worker, was murdered. Barry had been passionate about working with the Chinese community. In the Netflix documentary about Ben's work withRolling Stone, Ben states that some may wrongly have thought his brother was with law enforcement.[7]
He conducted interviews forRolling Stone of entertainment figures includingBob Dylan,[5] theRolling Stones, comedianSteve Martin andLinda Ronstadt's first cover story in 1975. He also profiledIke & Tina Turner,Marvin Gaye,Sly and the Family Stone,Bonnie Raitt,Paul McCartney andRodney Dangerfield. A Fong-Torres interview withRay Charles was awarded theDeems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing in 1974.[8]
Fong-Torres was also a rockDJ forSan Franciscoradio stationKSAN-FM in the 1970s. He later hosted a live, weekly entertainment and talk show,Fog City Radio, on NPR affiliateKQED-FM. On television, he is the five-time Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of theChinese New Year Parade broadcast onKTVU (Fox) in San Francisco.[9]
Fong-Torres was a contestant on the game showWheel of Fortune in 1993.[10]
He has published several books, includingHickory Wind, a biography ofGram Parsons;The Rice Room, a memoir;The Hits Just Keep on Coming, a history of Top 40 radio, and two compilations of past articles,Not Fade Away andBecoming Almost Famous (published in May 2006). His book withThe Doors (The Doors By The Doors) was published by Hyperion in November 2006, and he publishedTheGrateful Dead Scrapbook (Chronicle Books) in 2009.[11][12]The Rice Room was reprinted, with additional material and photographs, by the University of California Press in 2011. That year, Fong-Torres publishedEagles: Taking It to the Limit (Running Press). In November 2013,Willin': The Story ofLittle Feat (Da Capo Press), was released. In 2020, Welbeck published an updated version of his Eagles book, and he signed with Audible to narrate his memoirs and his book on Little Feat.
From July 2005 to April 2019, Fong-Torres wrote the bi-weekly column "Radio Waves" in theSan Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. He has been a contributing editor toParade magazine, and has served as Senior Editor forQello, an app and site that streams music concerts and documentaries. In 2007 to 2008, he hostedBackstage Sundays on San Francisco'sKFRC-FM, and he was a DJ on BossBossRadio.com until 2016, when he became program director and DJ for Moonalice Radio.[13]
He was portrayed in the2000filmAlmost Famous by actorTerry Chen.[3] The fictional version of Fong-Torres is the lead character William Miller'seditor atRolling Stone. He is depicted on a mural on the side of a building at Haight and Clayton Streets in San Francisco.
Fong-Torres was inducted into the SF State Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004 and delivered the commencement address in 2005. Frequently called upon to MC community events, Fong-Torres has also sung at senior facilities, Broadcast Legends luncheons and weddings. As an officiant, he has married some 30 couples. Fong-Torres was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[14]
In 2010, Suzanne Joe Kai,[5] founder of production company StudioLA.TV, co-founder of the website AsianConnections.com, and a television and film producer, began work on a documentary on Fong-Torres titledLike a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres.[15][4] The film was licensed to Netflix and released for streaming on May 6, 2022, to English-speaking countries.[16][8]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
