If you're drawn to wild stories of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, then you simply must listen to the intoxicating Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The oral history of a fictional 1970s rock band has hit best seller lists, earned a spot on Reese Witherspoon's Book Club list, and even secured a television adaptation on Prime Video.
This essential listening guide to Daisy Jones & The Six will give you the basics on the buzz-worthy novel, a background on the major characters in the book, and everything you need to know about the streaming adaptation before it hits Prime Video on Friday March 3, 2023.
*Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Daisy Jones & The Six.*
What is Daisy Jones & The Six about?
Daisy Jones & The Six tells the story of a fictional group of musicians who became an iconic rock band in the 1970s. The tale is shared through the transcript of a series of interviews with band members, managers, and others involved in the rise and fall of The Six and its star female vocalist, Daisy Jones. At the story's start, Daisy Jones is the beautiful, talented, rock-obsessed daughter of wealthy but inattentive parents. With the support of a disco star friend, Daisy's voice and entrancing energy gain notice within the music industry. At the same time, brothers Billy and Graham Dunne have been working hard to make their band, The Six, a success. With both Daisy and the band on the rise, a producer realizes that putting the groups together could lead to earth-shaking popularity. But with mercurial lead singers and many conflicting artistic visions, can this brilliant collaboration last?
Who wrote Daisy Jones & The Six?
Daisy Jones & The Six was written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the author of many best-selling books. Along with Daisy Jones & The Six, her popular novels include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising. She has also written Forever, Interrupted, After I Do, Maybe in Another Life, and One True Loves. She began her career in film production, working for three years as casting assistant before becoming a published author. She lives in Los Angeles.
What inspired Daisy Jones & The Six?
Many listeners have noticed similarities between the fictional Daisy and Billy in Daisy Jones & The Six and the real-life Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. Taylor Jenkins Reid has shared in interviews that she was partially inspired by Fleetwood Mac, as well as other iconic bands that have broken up suddenly or had interpersonal drama shape and disrupt their art. The landscape of '70s rock—and the way the bands' stories are told today—played a big role in the creation of Daisy Jones & The Six.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jenkins Reid said that the unusual structure of the book came from a desire to blur the lines of reality and fiction to bring the band's story to life in a way that felt authentic to her readers and listeners. "I wanted you to feel immersed in it... like you were there," said Jenkins Reid. "For me, the best way to do that was to mimic what I would argue is the best medium for stories about rock—which is a rock documentary."
The book explores themes of music, art, creativity, and expression, particularly through collaboration. It also looks at how personal relationships and behind-the-scenes drama shape iconic music, and what happens when artistic visions and personalities clash. Thanks to its documentary-esque style, Daisy Jones & The Six has a unique way of showing different perspectives on history, memory, and secrets.
Who are the main characters of Daisy Jones & The Six?
Daisy Jones
Daisy Jones is the band's talented, beautiful, and entrancing lead singer. She is the daughter of wealthy but inattentive parents, a British painter father and a French model mother, and she grew up in Hollywood Hills. At a young age, Daisy began sneaking into rock shows on the Sunset Strip and fell in love with music. After befriending disco star Simone, she is encouraged to begin writing and performing her own music. She starts as a solo artist but eventually teams up with blues-rock band The Six and is catapulted to fame. Throughout the book, Daisy struggles with alcohol and drug abuse, ill-advised relationships, and tensions with other members of The Six, especially Billy Dunne.
Billy Dunne
Billy Dunne is the lead singer and songwriter of The Six, a blues-rock band that he started in high school alongside his younger brother, Graham. He was raised in Pittsburgh by a single mom. Billy is described as attractive, drawing many young women as fans to the band. He marries Camila, and they have three children. Billy struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, as well as infidelity, early in his career, but he gets sober after the birth of his first daughter, Julia. He has a complicated relationship with Daisy Jones.
Graham Dunne
Graham Dunne is Billy Dunne's younger brother, as well as a co-creator and the lead guitarist of The Six. He is also a songwriter, although he and Billy sometimes clash. Graham falls in love with Karen Sirko, keyboardist for The Six, and they keep their relationship a secret from the rest of the band.
Karen Sirko
Karen Sirko is the keyboardist of The Six and one of the first women in a major rock and roll band. She rejects traditional expectations of women to succeed in her music career. She has a relationship with Graham Dunne, which they keep secret from the rest of the band.
Pete Loving
Pete Loving is the bassist and an original member of The Six. His brother is rhythm guitarist Eddie Loving. He leaves the band to start a family with his girlfriend, Jenny.
Eddie Loving
Eddie Loving is the rhythm guitarist of The Six and brother of Pete Loving. He is brought into the band when the original rhythm guitarist, Chuck Williams, is drafted into the military. Eddie struggles to work collaboratively with the band and often butts heads with Billy Dunne.
Warren Rhodes
Warren Rhodes is the drummer of The Six. He is described as the most laidback member of the band.
Camila Dunne
Camila Dunne is the wife of Billy Dunne and mother to their three children. She met Billy at a wedding where he was performing. They got engaged after The Six signed its first record deal. When Camila became pregnant, the couple quickly tied the knot prior to start of the band's first tour. She is a faithful and grounding partner to Billy, despite his early affairs and drug addiction. She encourages him to get clean before the birth of their first daughter.
Simone Jackson
Simone Jackson is a famous disco singer and lifelong best friend of Daisy Jones. She becomes one of the top names in disco throughout the 1970s. Simone takes Daisy under her wing as a teenager and encourages her to pursue a career in music.
Teddy Price
Teddy Price is a producer at Runner Records, where both The Six and Daisy Jones get their first record deals. He has the idea to bring Daisy Jones into The Six as a lead female singer. He supports the band through their meteoric rise to the top.
What do we know about the Daisy Jones & The Six television show?
Daisy Jones & The Six's documentary style writing and 1970s rock backdrop make it a perfect choice for adaptation to the screen. Producers at Prime Video obviously agreed, as they ordered a 13-episode series based on the book in July 2018, eight months before the book was published in March 2019. Made in conjunction with Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine, the series is set to premiere on March 3, 2023, and based solely on the trailer, it's everything fans of the audiobook could've hoped for.
The casting of this show is one for the ages. Riley Keough, actress and granddaughter of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, will play the title role of Daisy Jones. Sam Claflin, best known as Finnick Odail in the Hunger Games film adaptations, will play Billy Dunne. Rounding out the cast are Camila Morrone as Camila Dunne, Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko, Nabiyah Be as Simone Jackson, Will Harrison as Graham Dunne, Sebastian Chacon as Warren Rhodes, and Josh Whitehouse as Eddie Roundtree, who's expected to be a combination of the book's Pete and Eddie Loving.
And for the very same reasons Daisy Jones & The Six lends itself well to the screen, it makes for a fantastic listening experience. With a full cast of voice actors, Daisy Jones & The Six is arguably best enjoyed as an audiobook. The novel's documentary transcript format is truly brought to life via audio, making for an engaging, surprising, and moving nine hours of entertainment.
The audiobook is performed by an all-star cast of 21 different performers. Some of the best known actors in the cast include Jennifer Beals as Daisy Jones, Pablo Schreiber as Billy Dunne, Benjamin Bratt as Graham Dunne, and Judy Greer as Karen Sirko.
Susie Dumond is a Senior Contributor at Book Riot and the author of Queerly Beloved, coming June 7, 2022, from The Dial Press. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @susiedoom.
