John Gruen was born Jonas Grunberg in Enghien-les-Bains, France on September 12, 1926. The family moved to Berlin in 1929. The Grunbergs, who were Jewish, resettled in Milan in 1933 because of the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. In 1939, fleeing Benito Mussolini, he and his parents went to New York. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in art history from the University of Iowa.
He was a composer of art songs that were performed by Eleanor Steber and Patricia Neway. In 1950, New Songs, a recording of his work, became the first album released by Elektra Records. He became a critic for The New York Herald Tribune and New York magazine. He wrote about music, art, dance, and theater. His work also appeared in The New York Times, Dance Magazine, ARTnews, and Architectural Digest. He was a photographer whose work is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
He wrote more than ten books during his lifetime including The New Bohemia, The World's Great Ballets, and The Sixties: Young in the Hamptons. He wrote several authorized biographies including The Private World of Leonard Bernstein, Menotti, Keith Haring, and Erik Bruhn, Danseur Noble. His autobiography, Callas Kissed Me ¿ Lenny Too!: A Critic's Memoir, was published in 2008. He died on July 19, 2016 at the age of 89.
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