Classical Music Biography

Brilliant, short-lived, incredibly prolific—Schubert is one of the most intriguing figures in music history. While his music attracts a wide audience, much of his private life remains shrouded in mystery, and significant portions of his work have been overlooked. In this major new biography, Lorraine Byrne Bodley takes a detailed look into Schubert's life, from his early years at the Stadtkonvikt to the harrowing battle with syphilis that led to his death at the age of thirty-one.

Grab your lace shawl and top hat and get ready to twirl—this is a full-throttle appreciation of the life and voice of Stevie Nicks from one of rock criticism’s most celebrated writers.

Best-selling author and Rolling Stone columnist Rob Sheffield explores the music and artistry of the rock goddess who has kept generations of music lovers totally bewitched and spellbound, with such classic rock hits as "Rhiannon" and "Gypsy".

Keith Moon wasn’t just The Who’s drummer—he was their chaos engine, their comic relief, and their most volatile liability. Known for explosive performances and even more explosive offstage antics, Moon’s life was a whirlwind of fame, destruction, brilliance, and heartbreak. Keith Moon: The Last 24 Hours is an unflinching rock and roll biography that reconstructs the final day of this iconic musician's life, diving deep into the real events that led to his tragic death on September 7, 1978, at the age of 32. This book provides a blow-by-blow account of Moon’s last hours, based ...

In The Indispensable Composers, Tommasini offers his own personal guide to the canon - and what greatness really means in classical music. What does it mean to be canonical now? Who gets to say? And do we have enough perspective on the 20th century to even begin assessing it? To make his case, Tommasini draws on elements of biography, the anxiety of influence, the composer's relationships with colleagues, and shifting attitudes toward a composer's work over time.

People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of 60, with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and California, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f--king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time. A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. But I ain't the devil.

Is there any music more instantly recognizable and beautifully scored than Tchaikovsky’s wildly popular ballet Swan Lake? These and other works have become enduring classics, yet they were not uncontroversial in Tchaikovsky’s day, and there are those that still wonder if his style is fundamentally European or ardently Russian. Find out more about Tchaikovsky’s childhood obsession with music, his turbulent relationships with friends and colleagues, and how he overcame the deepest of personal crises to transcend all with an ambition that has left us with some of the greatest music ever written.

From Gregorian Chant to Henryk Gorecki, the first living classical composer to get into the pop album charts, here is the fascinating story of over a thousand years of Western classical music and the composers who have sought to express in music the deepest of human feelings and emotions. Also available: The History of Opera.

Suddenly the music is not notes or a tune, but what those seven people are exactly: the music is an aural holograph of the Grateful Dead. All their fibers, nuances, histories, desires, beings are clear. Jerry and his questing, Phil the loyal comrade, Tom drifting beside them both on a cloud, Pig staying stubbornly down to earth; Mickey working out furious complexities trying to understand how Bill is so simple, and Bob succumbing inevitably to Jerry and Phil and joining them.

Tommy Shaw’s story is one of firepower, finesse, and resilience. Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953, he grew from a southern kid absorbing radio country and rhythm and blues into the guitarist and vocalist whose sound would define Styx at the peak of arena rock. His journey through neighborhood jams, relentless bar gigs, and circuit tours hardened his craft, but it was his sudden call to replace a departing guitarist in 1975 that hurled him into rock history. Within weeks, he was standing before tens of thousands, his harmonies soaring alongside Dennis DeYoung, his guitar lines injecting...

Randy Rhoads was more than a guitarist—he was a revolution in six strings. Born into a musical family in Santa Monica in 1956, he absorbed classical discipline at his mother’s Musonia School of Music before electrifying it on the Sunset Strip. By the time he co-founded Quiet Riot in the mid-1970s, his technical clarity and fierce stage presence had already set him apart. His journey took him from Los Angeles clubs to a Japanese breakthrough and finally to the defining partnership with Ozzy Osbourne. Together, they recorded Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981), albums that...

A concentrated study of Johann Sebastian Bach's creative output and greatest pieces, capturing the essence of his art.

Stephen Stills stands as one of the most versatile and enduring voices of American rock. From the explosive rise of Buffalo Springfield to the groundbreaking harmonies of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, his story is inseparable from the soundtrack of an era. Yet behind the anthems and acclaim lies a life defined by restless creativity, personal trials, and an uncompromising vision of what music could achieve. Stephen Stills: A Life in Harmony is the most complete portrait yet of a musician whose career spanned continents, genres, and generations. Beginning with his Southern roots and ...

In Every Good Boy Does Fine, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. His life is already a little tough as a precocious, temperamental six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey, and then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico.

Ragtime Music History: The Complete Guide to the Origins, Legacy, and Essential Recordings of America’s First Popular Music is your ultimate deep dive into one of the most influential musical genres in American culture. From its syncopated origins in African American communities to its peak in the saloons, parlors, and vaudeville stages of the early 20th century, this beautifully written guide explores the evolution, key figures, cultural impact, and lasting legacy of ragtime. Discover the stories of Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Eubie Blake; learn how ragtime shaped early jazz, inspired...

Glyn Johns is one of the most influential recording engineers and producers in rock history, yet for decades his work was heard by millions while his name remained behind the glass. Glyn Johns tells the definitive story of a man whose ears shaped the sound of modern rock. From the Rolling Stones’ raw debut to Led Zeppelin’s explosive first album, from the Who’s ferocious early singles to the Eagles’ soaring harmonies, Johns was at the console when history was being made. This book traces Johns’s journey from his postwar childhood in Surrey to his apprenticeship at IBC Studios, ...

In the pantheon of American rock, few bands have cast a shadow as long and enduring as the Eagles. Yet behind the harmonies and chart-topping singles stood a guitarist whose fingerprints shaped their most iconic soundscapes. Hotel California Strings: Don Felder and the Guitar Architecture of the Eagles is the definitive biography of the quiet craftsman who provided the scaffolding for one of rock’s most celebrated catalogs. Born in Gainesville, Florida in 1947, Don Felder emerged from a modest Southern upbringing that incubated a generation of talent, including Tom Petty and Bernie Leadon...

Alex Lifeson has always stood in the shadows of rock’s spotlight—quietly, deliberately, and architecturally shaping one of the most inventive catalogs in music history. As the guitarist and co-founder of Rush, Lifeson built the sonic frameworks that carried Geddy Lee’s soaring melodies and Neil Peart’s intricate drumming, crafting a career defined by resilience, experimentation, and understated brilliance. Alex Lifeson: The Quiet Architect of Rush traces his journey from the son of Yugoslav immigrants in suburban Toronto to the world’s biggest stages. It explores the teenage ...

The lives and music of the great composers of classical music unfold in this entertaining account, introduced by singer and presenter Aled Jones. In 1200 years, classical music grew from the chanting of medieval monks through the symphonies of Beethoven and the grand operas of Wagner to the huge orchestral sound-world of the 21st century, with its electronics and its film music.

Kevin Cronin’s journey from a piano student in Evanston, Illinois, to the frontman of one of America’s biggest arena rock bands is a story of persistence, vulnerability, and unlikely triumph. Kevin Cronin: REO Speedwagon’s Reluctant Romantic is the first full-length, deeply researched biography to trace his life and career in documentary detail, weaving together the Midwestern grit of his upbringing with the global resonance of songs that became cultural touchstones. Born in 1951, Cronin discovered music early through piano lessons before shifting to guitar and forming teenage bands ...

John Deacon was the most reserved member of one of the loudest bands in rock history. John Deacon tells the definitive story of the quiet bassist who shaped Queen’s sound from the shadows. While Freddie Mercury commanded the spotlight and Brian May’s guitar roared, it was Deacon’s bass lines and songwriting that gave the band its unmistakable groove. Born in Leicester in 1951, Deacon’s early fascination with electronics and rhythm guitar laid the foundation for a career defined by precision and restraint. From his homemade amplifiers and school bands to his pivotal audition for ...