Jiri Cerny, a legendary Czech music critic who introduced Western music to generations of listeners behind the Iron Curtain, has died at the age of 87.

Cerny started writing about  rock’n’roll in the early 1960s, including as co-author of a book about the Beatles, when the music was viewed with suspicion by the communist authorities.

He was also one of the founding members of the Civic Forum, a newly created opposition group that was instrumental in the transition to Czech democracy.  He eventually became its impromptu spokesperson

In 2013, he received a Czech Culture Ministry award for his contribution to music.