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Creem (whose trademark is capitalized CREEM), "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication started in 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1988. The late Lester Bangs, who is often cited as "America's Greatest Rock Critic," was one of Creem's original editors. The term "punk rock" was coined by the magazine in 1971, and the term "heavy metal" was also first used in its pages.

The magazine was based in Detroit, and later Birmingham, Michigan. Its separation from the entertainment industry in the United States afforded a certain irreverent, deprecatory and humorous tone that permeated the magazine. The magazine became famous for its comical photo captions, which poked fun at rock stars and the magazine itself. Its location also meant it was amongst the first national publications to cover many local artists in any great depth, such as Iggy Pop, The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, The MC5, and Parliament-Funkadelic, as well as other Midwestern acts such as Cheap Trick and The Raspberries. Creem picked up on the punk rock (which many claim the magazine and, especially, Bangs helped to conceptualize, if not invent) and New Wave movements early on, years before other magazines like Rolling Stone. It gave massive exposure to artists like Lou Reed, David Bowie, Roxy Music and The New York Dolls years before the mainstream press. In the '80s, it also led the pack on coverage of upcoming rock icons such as The Replacements, Robyn Hitchcock, R.E.M. and The Cure, among numerous others. It was also among the first to sing the kudos of metal acts like Kiss and Van Halen. Kurt Cobain once stated to RIP Magazine that he'd first learned about punk rock from reading Creem as a youngster.

The famous "Boy Howdy!" milk-bottle logo was drawn by artist R. Crumb. He was paid USD$50 for the soon-to-be iconic image.

Writers for Creem included Lester Bangs, Dave Marsh, Jaan Uhelszki, Billy Altman, Robert Christgau, Richard Meltzer, Nick Tosches, Greil Marcus, Rick Johnson, John Mendelssohn, Richard C. Walls, Susan Whitall, Jeff Nesin, John "The Mad" Peck, Robot A. Hull, Richard Riegel, Jon Young, Vicki Arkoff, Richard Riegel, Mitch Cohen, Cynthia Rose, Sylvie Simmons, Penny Valentine, Gregg Turner, Alan Niester, Rob Tyner, Patti Smith, Cameron Crowe, Dave DiMartino, Linda Barber, Mark J. Norton, John Kordosh and Bill Holdship; the latter two edited one of the last versions of Creem in the mid-1980s. The magazine moved its base of operations to Los Angeles shortly before it ceased publication.

Holdship and Kordosh were both involved in Creem's move to Los Angeles after it was purchased by Arnold Levitt, but both of them had already left the magazine before its move to New York City, after Levitt licensed the name to a publisher there, and its ultimate demise. Steve Peters and David Sprague were the last members remaining in the original editorial chain that reached back to 1969.

Robert Matheu, a regular Creem photographer since 1978, and his business partner, Ken Kulpa, lead the current online resurrection with a new staff that includes editor Luke Allen Hackney and veteran rock critic Jeffrey Morgan, who has been a Creem writer since 1975.

There is currently an ownership dispute being litigated between J.J. Kramer, a New York-based attorney and son of Creem founder Barry Kramer, and Matheu.

• Official website
• "Boy Howdy: The Creem Story" by Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle