Music

Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote and recorded at a pace that most of today's young bands would consider unimaginable. And although there have...

Metallica formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California, their original line-up consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and bassist Ron McGovney. Mustaine and...

John L. Williams draws on original research and interviews to provide a portrait of a young woman on the cusp of stardom, whose rise to fame was in many ways...

This collection of articles and interviews offers an insight into Bob Dylan - his personality, tastes, humour and above all his methods of composing, rehearsing, playing live and recording. The...

The International Bestseller'I can't help that my music shows who I am in this moment, what I'm drawn to, what I'm wondering about. I don't want to help it. What...

Nothing will ever compare to the amphetamine rush of my young life and the night I was nearly buggered by my girlfriend's uncle in the Potteries...The opening line of Stuart...

Musically, culturally and in terms of sheer attitude, The Jesus and Mary Chain stand alone. Their seminal debut album Psychocandy changed the course of popular music with its iconic blend...

'He achieves the miraculous,' the sculptor Auguste Rodin wrote of Vaslav Nijinsky. 'He embodies all the beauty of classical frescoes and statues'. Like so many since, Rodin recognised that in...

The last word on Sid Vicious - the world's most iconic punk figure.The old school register for Soho Parish Primary school has a note in the margin recording that five-year-old...

'To see The Clash on the White Riot tour was like discovering how to be a rock star: you just did it yourself. You didn't wait for someone to come...

An October 2022 IndieNext pick"[An] engaging and beautifully narrated quest for personal fulfillment and musical recognition...This is a fast-paced tale in which music and love always take center stage...A truly...

The Pixies were a shock to the system. Emerging from their first rehearsal held in a squalid Boston basement, they were soon the toast of the UK and Europe -...

Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the nineties, adored by worshipful fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. The sadness had its sources in the...

Masters of Irish music

From March 1965 to May 1966, photographer Bent Rej enjoyed unique access to The Rolling Stones, having become one of the trusted inner circle of friends and associates, accompanying them...

Jackson was the most talented, richest, and most famous pop star on the planet. But the outpouring of emotion that followed his loss was bittersweet. Dogged by scandal for over...

A GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, PITCHFORK, NPR, METRO AND HERALD SCOTLAND BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2018 'The definitive grime biography' NME 'A landmark genre history' Pitchfork The year 2000. As Britain celebrates...

Kirsty MacColl led a dazzling life - tender, creative, heroic and full of love. This book, by her mother Jean MacColl, charts with moving insight Kirsty's early years, celebrates her...

This book is an indispensable consumers' guide to the music of Queen. It provides information about album by album, track by track, run-down of every song released by Queen, from...

As Assistant Editor on Melody Maker, Everett True was the first journalist to cover the Seattle music scene in early 1989 and interview Nirvana. He is responsible for bringing Hole,...

The indispensable consumers' guide to the music of The Clash. An album by album, track by track, examination of every song released by The Clash, from their first single, White...

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A curious book that will change your relationship with the heard world In Listen, Michel Faber's lifelong passion for music culminates in an intriguing exploration of two big questions: how...

Aimed at everyone with an interest in pianos, amateurs and professionals alike, this is a thorough but highly readable technical guide to the world's most influential musical instrument. Most people,...

A memoir by the iconic singer-songwriter chronicling her story from her beginnings in Brooklyn through her remarkable success as one of the world's most acclaimed musical talents, to her present...

From Tin Pan Alley to the Brill Building, Bob Dylan to Kurt Cobain, and Joni Mitchell to Amy Winehouse, gifted songwriters have crafted a cherished body of music that has...

PICTURING PRINCE sees the late icon's former art director, STEVE PARKE, revealing stunning intimate photographs of the singer from his time working at Paisley Park. At least half of the...

Foreword by Shepard Fairey.As featured in Best stocking-filler books of 2017 - The GuardianIf you want to understand our culture. To learn knowledge itself. Truth about the art form of...

Written by top UK and US music journalists, and including a preface by Michael Lydon, the founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine, this book celebrates the great and ground-breaking albums...

Find out why Chet Atkins had a Gretsch guitar named after him, why The Who's John Entwistle called his favourite guitar "Frankenstein", and how John Lennon elevated the Rickenbacker 325...

What links Lead Belly, Lonnie Donegan and Black Betty? Whose gravestone inspired Phil Spector's first hit? And for which song did Johnny Rotten replace the singer from Def Leppard? The...

The story of Jamica's most famous hero, told through his music, from unknown Trenchtown rasta to international superstar. Bob Marley first became well known in the UK and USA in...

'With a Fenian fiddle in one ear and an Orange drum in the other', singer Tommy Sands was reared in the foothills of the Mourne mountains, where he still lives....

The hectic cultural and political upheavals occurring in the 1960s marked a divide between the relatively stable cultural environment of the previous decade and what is now regarded as the...

Pop star. Judge. Style icon. Independent woman. A day in the life of Cheryl is a multi-faceted affair - but now you too can see what it is truly like...

Foreword by Tony IommiIntroduced in 1961, the Gibson SG is Gibson's biggest-selling guitar of all time, and is synonymous with Angus Young (AC/DC lead guitarist), Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) and...

As a boy in post-War England, legendary Kinks singer/songwriter Ray Davies fell in love with America - its movies and music, its culture of freedom fed his imagination. In Americana,...

When Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen released "Patience" on November 20, 2006, over a decade since "Take That" split up, the world welcomed them back with...

The pop phenomenon that is "Take That" was formed in Manchester in 1990. Throughout the first half of the '90s the band sold an unbelievable 60 million records, resulting in...