Secondhand Music Books

The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope. In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears...

Dublin's Thin Lizzy have become one of the most revered cult acts of all time, studious and discerning fans of hard rock the world over revelling in the storytelling acumen...

One afternoon, in 1994, I had an idea.So begins Stuart David's magical, evocative memoir about Belle and Sebastian. Determined to make his living writing stories and songs, Stuart had spent...

'The rock memoir of the decade' Daily Mail'The rock star's gloriously entertaining and candid memoir is a gift to the reader' Sunday TimesIn his first and only official autobiography, music...

Adventures in Wonderland is an extraordinary true life story, giving the most brilliant insights ever into the fascinating, often exhilarating – and sometimes emotionally devastating – world of contemporary music...

Chopin's funeral, bisecting the 19th century, stands as a turning point. Both the life and music of this frail elegant man played out at the crossroads. His decline and death...

Emma Watson's Book Club pick for July and August 2016Before Carrie Brownstein became a music icon, she was a young girl growing up in the Pacific Northwest just as it...

'If you tried to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.'

_______________________'Astonishing, soul-baring - the must-read memoir by rock's greatest survivor' DAILY MAIL***The full, dramatic story of one of the most remarkable women in music history, celebrating Tina Turner's 60th year...

"The vast majority of the singles and artists in this book were brave anough to break out of cool's stultifying grip, and reshape style, language and,or performance in their image."...

Here is the complete story of one of the most high-profile and enduring institutions in British cultural life: the Proms. This lavishly illustrated book describes the Proms' history by focusing...

Prince Rogers Nelson was a musical phenomenon who constantly reinvented himself throughout his long and colourful career, changing his style and even his name to keep his artistic output fresh...

From the author of KYLIE CONFIDENTIAL, comes the first ever in-depth biography of one of Britain's biggest pop icons This first full length major biography of one of pop's biggest...

Throughout his career, Johnny Cash has been depicted-and has depicted himself-as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and...

Anthony Reynolds' fascinating and detailed biography draws on scores of new interviews conducted with Cohen's band members past and present, his business associates, editors, friends, fans, producers, colleagues, enemies and...

This is the remarkable story of how the Glastonbury Festival, that started as a party in a Somerset field in the 1970s, went on to become one of the world's...

'I can't rewrite history; all I can do is be honest and wear my heart on my sleeve. It's really the only way I know. I want to show people...

PASSION AND PAIN, the second volume of John Suchet's compelling trilogy about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, depicts the composer at the height of his powers, famous throughout Europe,...

The long-awaited memoir by the superstar of stage, screen, recordings, and television'Exhilarating ... leaves blood on the page ... My Name Is Barbra is 992 pages of startling honesty and...

At its heart, Under A Rock is a love story. The codependent bond between Chris Stein and Debbie Harry carried Blondie through their many tribulations: terribly misogynistic music scenes, greasy...

Derived from the classic Oxford Dictionary of Music, this is the most authoritative dictionary of music available in paperback. Up-to-date and clearly written, it is a rich mine of information...

Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, The Thin White Duke: David Bowie had an extraordinary talent for reinvention. But at the beginning of his career, he made the most significant transformation of...

Tony Wilson was the co-founder of Factory Records and The Hacienda, he kick-started the careers of Joy Division, Happy Mondays and New Order, he put the Sex Pistols on television...

Growing up in poor circumstances in the midlands town of Mullingar might seem an unlikely start for a musical superstar, but that's exactly the journey Joe Dolan travelled in his...

On 15 March 1996, Bruno de Stabenrath made love for the last time; the next day he was lying in a coma in hospital. He spent the following fourteen months...

Judged by her incandescent fame and her extraordinary voice and dramatic talent, Maria Callas should have led a sublimely happy life. Yet betrayal and tragedy were her constant companions. Without...

This in-depth biography details Harry's life so far. From his childhood and his journey to fame on the X-Factor to releasing solo music and becoming fashion royalty, this book gets...

'I hadn't been very comfortable with fame, but I didn't know what to do with myself after I was famous. On the surface, I was just hugely relieved to be...

'Opinions are like arseholes - everybody has one'James Blunt, 6 December 2014Once upon a time, James Blunt's most enduring legacy was a three-minute, thirty-second pop song about a girl he...

Throughout his life Mozart was inspired, fascinated, amused, aroused, hurt, disappointed and betrayed by women; and he appeared equally fascinating to them. But, first and last, Mozart loved and respected...

On May 27th, 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met a flirtatious little starling who sang (an improved version of!) the theme from his Piano Concerto Number 17 in G to him....

California punk trio Green Day took a grunge-obsessed music scene by complete surprise in 1994 with their major - label debut album Dookie, which jump started a new punk revolution...

The memoir of the small girl (5 foot 1 inch tall) with the huge voice. At the age of 15, in 1964, Lulu - born Marie Lawrie in Glasgow -...

A candid autobiography of the great rock diva of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, revealing her wild life at the forefront of the Sixties and Seventies counterculture.She has been called...

Cilla Black is a phenomenon of truly iconic proportions. Since debuting on the showbiz circuit in 1963 she's conquered the mediums of TV, comedy and pop! As a singer she...