At 17, Alan worked as a freelance reviewer for music papers such as Sounds and Record Mirror. Former NME editor Keith Altham offered him a job at his publicity firm, starting his career in entertainment PR by working on music group The Who. After three years, Edwards created a sub-division in the company with a roster of his own clients including The Stranglers, The Buzzcocks, The Damned and Blondie. In 1981, Alan met Mick Jagger, in New York and went on to represent the Rolling Stones for the next nine years. During this time, Edwards formed Modern Publicity, which traded for more than a decade and included clients such as the Stones, David Bowie, Duran Duran and Bryan Ferry. Alan also worked with Prince and represented him again in 2007 when Prince took up a 21 night residency at the O2 Arena. The company grew throughout the eighties adding artists such as UB40, Robert Palmer, INXS and The Cure.
1990s and 2000s
In 1990 Edwards formed Poole Edwards which evolved into The Outside Organisation. In 2000 Outside Line became a sub division of the Company. In 1997, Edwards began representing the Spice Girls. The success of the Spice Girls led to Edwards handling further pop acts including Atomic Kitten, Boyzone, Westlife, All Saints and Leona Lewis. In October 2017, Edwards was inducted into the PR Week Hall of Fame by Roger Daltery. In March 2019, Edwards was named Number 1 Entertainment PR in the UK by PR Week in the magazine's annual Power List 2019, for the fifth consecutive year.
TV appearances
Edwards, featured in the BBC TV series entitled "Music Moguls:Masters of Pop". He presented the episode, "Mythmakers" which takes you through some of the most iconic and pivotal moments in popular music and the role of the publicist in the industry. Edwards also presented an episode of the BBC Four TV series Hip, Hype & Hustle: An insiders guide to the music business, hosting the episode entitled . In 2017, Edwards made an appearance as part of the expert panel on the BBC Series, 'Astronauts: Do you have what it takes', on episode 5.
Crisis management
Edwards worked closely with the courts both in the UK and abroad in Naomi Campbell's controversial appearance at The Hague War Crimes trial of Blood diamond suspect Charles Taylor, where he handled the global media throughout the case.
Exhibitions
April 2015: Alan Edwards conducted a live event at the V&A on the role of PR over the last 40 years, using materials selected from his own archives. Guest speakers included Dylan Jones, Editor of GQ magazine, music photographer Dennis Morris, Jeremy Deller, Timothy Bell, Alastair Campbell and Bob Geldof. September 2016: On the Hippie Trail was an offshoot of the headline exhibition at the V&A entitled You Say You Want a Revolution: Records and Rebels 1966–1970. A panel of writers, academics, and veteran “Intrepids” discussed the Hippie Trail – a 1960s overland journey that essentially embodied the counter-cultural consciousness of a post-war generation. Alan Edwards along with Tony Wheeler, Rory MacLean, Sharif Gemie and Brian Ireland contributed to the discussion and the history of this journey made mainly by young people originally referred to as "world travellers", and "seekers", then later as "hippies" and – in a term coined by Rory MacLean – "Intrepids". May 2017: Edwards has recently contributed exhibits to the Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition at the V&A which is available to view until 1 October 2017.
