Alexander Waugh was born in 1963, and is the grandson of Evelyn Waugh, and a son of columnist Auberon Waugh and novelist Teresa Waugh. After studying music at Manchester University, he became Chief Opera Critic at the Mail on Sunday and the London Evening Standard. He has written several books on music, including Classical Music: A New Way of Listening, which has been translated into fourteen languages. He is also a publisher, cartoonist, composer, and illustrator. He lives in Somerset, England, with his wife and three children.