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The 15 most essential music bios (and autobiographies) so far this century

From sleater-kinney to springsteen, these are the tomes most deserving of joining the pantheon of essential musical memoirs.

Back in 2012, The A.V. Club asked if there was life left in the world of music memoirs . On one hand, it was obviously a rhetorical question—is anyone really going to say, “No, no more autobiographies from musicians, please”?—but the larger point was salient. Namely, that this young century had seen a glut of shoddily written and poorly edited books by famous artists (whether ghostwritten or not), that did the genre no favors. (Paging Neil Young’s Waging Heavy Peace .)

Lucky, then, to have so many counterexamples. The past 22 years have seen the release of not only tremendous memoirs and musical biographies, but among them some that belong in the highest echelons of the field—books that should be essential reading even for those who aren’t fans of the artist. The following are the ones that rose to the top when The A.V. Club looked back upon which music bios and memoirs were the most impactful, the most artful, and resonated far beyond the page. There are plenty of great books about the music industry not on this list (or about multiple artists, like Alex Ross’ must-read book on 20th century classical music, The Rest Is Noise ) that just didn’t fit the biography/autobiography designation. But when it comes to the singular stories of notable musicians and their lives, careers, and music, these are the ones we’ll recommend in perpetuity.

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Carrie Brownstein, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl [2015]

Sleater-Kinney is one of two families that Brownstein explores in this candid, heartfelt memoir. Hunger ’s childhood photos attest to the Brownsteins’ deep love, though a lack of communication made it difficult to fully process her mother’s anorexia and her father coming out. Her book’s dedication to bandmates Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss makes clear that Sleater-Kinney is (or was, anyway) as much a family as the Brownsteins, and her depiction of the band’s early days is a thrilling origin story. She makes repeatedly clear that Sleater-Kinney’s work—and music in general—is her lifeblood. One oft-quoted line from the book sums up her passion: “This is what it is to be a fan: curious, open, desiring for connection, to feel like art has chosen you, claimed you as its witness.” [David Brusie]

Hanif Abdurraqib, Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes On A Tribe Called Quest [2019]

Abdurraqib’s book is part history, part memoir. Abdurraqib was born in 1983, so he was 7 when A Tribe Called Quest began and 15 upon its 1998 breakup. Along the way—and in post-Tribe years of solo records and a surprisingly fruitful 2016 reunion—Abdurraqib grows alongside Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The book is at its most poignant when examining the often contentious relationship between Q-Tip and Phife Dawg. They reconcile shortly before Phife’s death at 45 from complications due to diabetes, which is also the subject of Abdurraqib’s open letter to Phife’s mom, the book’s most heartbreaking moment. Abdurraqib’s Tribe expertise inspires the reader to seek out albums, playlists, and songs, with a spirit of exploration that reflects the group itself. [David Brusie]

Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume One [2004]

During Bob Dylan’s 1960s and ’70s heyday, he was an inscrutable figure, inclined either toward reclusiveness or puckish obfuscation. The greatest trick he pulls with his memoir Chronicles is to convince readers he’s finally telling his story straight, from the perspective of a gentle, neighborly old family man, who likes Little League baseball, American history, and vintage rock ’n’ roll. Devoted Dylanologists have debunked a lot of this book, proven that some of the anecdotes about recording sessions or the post-Woody Guthrie folk scene couldn’t have happened the way the author describes them. But Dylan’s exaggerations are themselves telling. Really, this is a book that illuminates where his songs come from: via scraps of newspapers, lost pop artifacts, and the lived experiences that a genius has transformed into myth. [Noel Murray]

Flea, Acid For The Children [2019]

Flea, acid for the children   [2019].

Red Hot Chili Peppers fans know the band for their goofier antics, but one layer deeper reveals an underlying through line across their history: the potent musicianship and quiet vulnerability of bassist Michael Balzary, a.k.a. Flea. Acid For The Children , outside of a handful of time jumps, takes place entirely before the formation of the Peppers; at its core, it’s the story of a music-obsessed Australian with a musically heroic but violent alcoholic stepfather. Graduating into his teen years, Flea gets some notoriety by being himself: awkward, wild, and overly dedicated to his musical craft. A handful of future-celebrity cameos make everything feel destined (like actor Laurence Fishburne as a former roommate), but the real juice is reading about a shy, sensitive boy becoming an outrageous, sensitive man. [Dan Bogosian]

Kristin Hersh, Don’t Suck, Don’t Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt [2015]

The late Vic Chesnutt was a brilliant singer-songwriter who was equal parts lovable and frustrating. In the piercing chronicle Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, musician Kristin Hersh uses vivid, engaging prose to capture Chesnutt’s complicated nature. The pair frequently toured together, and the book shines when she draws on her own personal, intimate observations, gleaned from their time on the road. “We didn’t stand a chance because when you were good, the work was true,” she writes. In the end, Don’t Suck, Don’t Die is a moving portrait of an artistic genius—and a vulnerable manual on how to navigate immense grief after the death of someone we love. [Annie Zaleski]

Herbie Hancock, Possibilities [2014]

Herbie Hancock has a ton of great stories, as you might guess of someone who was in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet, played space-jazz with Mwandishi, and got real loose with Headhunters. But in his 2014 memoir Possibilities , he’s at his best when he’s talking about his artistic motivations. His taste is omnivorous—how many of bebop’s brightest stars have also been credited with helping to birth hip-hop, or have collaborated with Congolese electronic group Konono Nº1?—and he writes eagerly about how he’s evolved as an artist; when he gets into the whys and hows of that evolution, the book really sings. As great as it is on paper, the audiobook is highly recommended, if only to hear Herbie imitate Miles’ famous rasp to call himself a “motherfucker.” [Marty Sartini Garner]

Robin D.G. Kelley, Thelonious Monk: The Life And Times Of An American Original [2009]

Thelonious Monk spent his entire life waiting for the world to recognize his brilliance, and when it finally happened, in the mid-1960s, the jazz world moved on with alarming speed. Robin D.G. Kelley approaches Monk’s life as a tragedy, one beset by mental illness and the everyday oppression that comes with being Black in America, as well as a lack of consistent recognition that’s frequently surprising given Monk’s reputation now. Kelley walks patiently through the man’s life, from his time as a tent-revival accompanist through his all-night gigs in Manhattan clubs, and while he does write at length about how Monk’s emotional and mental struggles colored both his playing and his life, he does so without sensationalizing—or stripping him of the incredible genius he developed by sitting at a piano and chasing his own sound for years and years. [Marty Sartini Garner]

Tegan And Sara Quinn, High School [2019]

Most music memoirs are about getting to the good stuff, when an artist starts to hit it big and enter the glory years. Not so with High School —it’s right there in the title. Tegan and Sara Quinn begin and end their back-and-forth autobiography (the two alternate chapters throughout) with their formative years in secondary education, the tale concluding just as the pair score a vital performance showcase and first glimpse the possibility of a future in music. But that’s what makes it so vital: The Canadian twins nail the hyperbolic emotional volatility of being a teen, connecting it to a passion for music in a way few artists have managed without losing the everything- cranked-to-11 intensity of adolescence. It’s artfully—and painfully—relatable (and soon to be a TV show .)[Alex McLevy]

Keith Richards, Life [2010]

Keith richards, life   [2010].

Even Keith Richards seems a little astounded by how well his memory has served him. It’s understandable: Given the copious amounts of drugs the guitarist for the Rolling Stones has done over the course of his life, anyone would be forgiven for blacking out entire months, or maybe years. Instead, the garrulous and freewheeling icon holds court (with help from ghostwriter James Fox) on everything from his earliest beginnings to the depths of his addiction days with equally eagle-eyed description. Much like the chaos that seemed to perpetually surround the band, there’s a sense of frenetic abandon to the tale, an intensity that gives it the heady rush of a dishy beach read (when he and Mick Jagger turn on each other, oh, the zingers that ensue), even while making plenty of time to ruminate on the value of a passionate, devoted love of music above all else. It’s downright irreplaceable, innit? [Alex McLevy]

Patti Smith, Just Kids [2010]

Patti Smith was already a decorated poet and musician before writing the memoir Just Kids . Still, the tender chronicle of her decades-long relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe catapulted her into literature’s upper echelons, as the book became an award-winning best-seller; among other things, it won the 2010 National Book Award for Nonfiction. The honors are well deserved: Set against a backdrop of a bohemian New York City that no longer exists, Just Kids is an intimate look at the inner workings of a complex relationship. Smith uses elegant, precise, and vivid language throughout to describe what it’s like to come of age when you’re marching to your own beat—giving Just Kids the feel of a vulnerable, honest guide to growing up even when gracefulness is in short supply. [Annie Zaleski]

Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run [2016]

For decades, Bruce Springsteen sprinkled pieces of his autobiography into his song intros, repeated nightly at his concerts like liturgy. For his official autobiography, the Boss reassembled those pieces and filled in some gaps, explaining his struggles with depression and the squalor he endured as a child. Those insights are invaluable. But the real revelations in Born To Run have to do with the music. Bruce gets downright wonky here, talking about his early days in the New Jersey club scene, where the only way to make a dollar was to flatten the audience, gig after gig. This book asks fans to think about Springsteen’s songs the way he thinks of them: in terms of how they’ll work in a live setting. Their visceral punch and their epic aspirations now make even more sense. [Noel Murray]

John Taylor, In The Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, & Duran Duran [2013]

As Duran Duran’s bassist, John Taylor is tasked with laying down lively grooves with pinpoint precision. That sense of rhythm and clarity permeates the writing in his memoir, In The Pleasure Groove . The book follows Taylor as he evolves from an eager young music fan growing up in Birmingham, England, into a daydreaming art school student and then a music superstar with Duran Duran. Although there are plenty of ’80s-related memories and references to long-ago debauchery, In The Pleasure Groove is most affecting when Taylor digs deep and reflects on the more personal aspects of his life and career. His candid reminiscences about his family, and insights about getting (and staying) sober, in particular, are quite moving. [Annie Zaleski]

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Mo’ Meta Blues; The World According To Questlove [2013]

At first glance, Questlove’s first memoir, Mo’ Meta Blues , comes across like an especially enjoyable hang session nerding out with a fellow music fan, someone unafraid to admit just how emotionally meaningful the records that connected with you growing up really are. But as you get deeper, you realize the book is actually a skeleton key of sorts to his entire musical career—tracing the path that led him to obsessive perfection of his instrument, obsessive devotion to musical curation, and the beauty to be found by channeling feeling into technique—something too many musical memoirs quietly pass by. [Alex McLevy]

Kathy Valentine, All I Ever Wanted: A Rock: A Rock ‘N’ Roll Memoir [2020]

In her memoir, All I Ever Wanted , The Go-Go’s’ bassist Kathy Valentine blows the fun-loving image of the group to bits. The book has its share of salacious rock ’n’ roll stories, but it is Valentine’s honest and unflinching account of growing up unsupervised in a single-parent household that is the most engrossing—and difficult—to read. This includes a pregnancy and its termination at 12, which she revisits at 23, when she goes for the procedure again, then performs with The Go-Go’s the very next day. Valentine speaks candidly about her addiction, her destructive behavior, and the people she hurt, taking full responsibility for her actions. Despite her negligent upbringing, there are no complaints or accusations. This is perhaps All I Ever Wanted ’s strongest statement: acceptance without resentment. [Lily Moayeri]

Michelle Zauner, Crying In H Mart [2021]

Michelle Zauner, a.k.a. the band Japanese Breakfast, has been a fixture on the New York Times Best Seller list since the release of her raw, grief-filled memoir, Crying In H Mart, about a year ago. The book (which was preceded by a viral New Yorker essay of the same name) focuses on Zauner’s experience of her mother’s cancer diagnosis and eventual death. There are numerous flashbacks to Zauner’s relationship with her mother, which are at times devastatingly tender, and at others, brutal to the point of cruelty. Somehow, the mouth-watering and sensual food descriptions threaded throughout soften these blows. Zauner puts her lyrical skills to work painting detailed scenarios steeped in emotion so heightened, you can almost taste it. Do not read if you have recently lost a loved one: Crying In H Mart may send you off the deep end. [Lily Moayeri]

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Best music books of 2021

Sinéad O’Connor’s extraordinary memoir, the untold story of 90s Dancehall and a portrait in song from Paul McCartney are among the releases hitting the high notes

Rememberings Sinéad O’Connor (Sandycove) The singer-songwriter has a genuinely incredible story to tell – by the time she found fame, she had already experienced harrowing abuse at the hands of her mother, visitations from Jesus, a spell in a home for girls with behavioural problems, the failure of her ambition to become a priest and life as a strippergram. But what’s really striking about Rememberings is how she tells it: O’Connor is a great prose writer, even if she insists she isn’t (the piano in her grandmother’s house sounds “like the ghost bells of a sunken ship”). What could entirely understandably have been a book filled with bitterness and regret turns out to be suffused with humour and forgiveness.

Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres Kelefa Sanneh ( Canongate) “I’m always a bit puzzled when a musician is praised for transcending genre,” states New Yorker writer Sanneh in the introduction to Major Labels. “What’s so great about that?” The line sums up his exploration of musical tribalism: intriguing, controversial, personal. You don’t have to agree with his view about the importance of genres – rock, r’n’b, country and hip-hop among them – to find the book fascinating: his opinions are provocative. He posits that the Dixie Chicks got worse, not better, when they stopped caring about the conservative country establishment. And the story of his own progress through the US punk scene might have made a book in itself. Whether you view it as a rallying call or a eulogy in a world where everyone seems to like “a bit of everything”, it’s a unique and absorbing read.

Nina Simone’s Gum Warren Ellis (Faber) Most music biographies follow a well-worn pattern: that of Warren Ellis – Nick Cave ’s luxuriantly bearded foil in the Bad Seeds – does not. Ostensibly about Ellis stealing some gum that Nina Simone spat out during a performance at the Cave-curated Meltdown festival in 1999, and his subsequent treatment of it as a kind of holy relic, it winds a gloriously idiosyncratic path through his life and passions, from the mechanics of busking, to his love of Emily Dickinson and the Greek éntekhno singer Arleta. Ellis marshals his scattershot approach with intelligence and charm: you feel as if you’ve spent time in the company of a particularly perceptive raconteur.

Run the Riddim: The Untold Story of 90s Dancehall Marvin Sparks ( No Long Stories) Sparks – a self-styled “lifelong dancehall student” – spent 10 years researching and writing his history of Jamaica’s most successful and influential musical export since reggae’s commercial heyday. The Jamaican music industry is always fertile ground for writers – it massively punches above its weight in terms of importance and doesn’t adhere to the usual rules. This account is as insightful and revelatory as its title suggests, shining light on a wildly creative, volatile and occasionally hugely controversial genre and the culture that surrounds it. You’re left wondering why no one has written this book before, and why Sparks had to publish it himself.

Lyrics: 1956 to the Present Paul McCartney (Allen Lane) The first line in the former Beatle’s introduction to his two-volume collected lyrics posits the book as a kind of alternative autobiography. It’s a canny move, enabling McCartney to talk, often illuminatingly, about his life – he’s particularly good on his childhood in Liverpool – while skirting over anything he doesn’t want to discuss, not least his second marriage to the vilified Heather Mills . So the holes in the story gape, and the sense that we’re never going to get a full picture of McCartney the man lingers, but once you immerse yourself in the books themselves, with their plethora of beautiful photographs and collected ephemera, it scarcely matters.

• Best books of the year
• Best books of 2021
• Music books
• Paul McCartney
• Nina Simone
• Sinéad O'Connor
• Autobiography and memoir
• Biography books

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Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure review – band on the brink

America Over the Water by Shirley Collins review – a vivid tale of ballads, gunfire and rattlesnakes

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Best Music Biographies: 10 Must-Read Rock’n’Roll Books

Revealing and insightful, the best music biographies tell us everything we need to know about rock’n’roll’s most iconic artists.

Superbly researched and insightfully written, the best music biographies offer portraits of their subjects which simply leap off the page. Must-read titles in their own right, these books are essential reads for every music fan.

Listen to our Rock Classics playlist here , and check out the best music biographies, below.

10: everett true: ‘hey ho let’s go: the story of the ramones’ (omnibus, 2002).

As the band who kick-started punk on both sides of the Atlantic, New York City’s Ramones were deserving of a biography of substance – and they got one with this exhaustive tome written by ex- NME / Melody Maker journalist Everett True, the man who famously wheeled Kurt Cobain on stage at the start of Nirvana’s legendary Reading Festival performance in 1992.

True later wrote 2006’s Nirvana: The True Story , but that’s bettered by Hey Ho Let’s Go , a truly exhaustive trawl through the blistering live sets, brilliant albums, inter-band brawls and eventual breakup that finally ended Da Brudders’ 22-year career in 1996. True also deserves credit for capturing detailed testimonies from the band members themselves, plus knowledgeable insiders such as producers Ed Stasium and Daniel Rey and tour manager Monte Melnick. His prose is as fast, furious and skilful as Ramones’ music, ensuring that Hey Ho Let’s Go remains one of the best music biographies on offer.

9: Graeme Thomson: ‘Under The Ivy: The Life & Music Of Kate Bush’ (Omnibus, 2010)

Clearly a writer who relishes a challenge, Edinburgh-based author Graeme Thomson has also written acclaimed biographies of other maverick figures such as John Martyn, Elvis Costello and Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott. However, he arguably excelled himself with Under The Ivy , a 2010 study of Kate Bush which The Irish Times declared to be “the best music biography in perhaps the past decade”.

Updated and republished five years later, following Bush’s triumphant return to the live stage after a near-four-decade absence, Under The Ivy certainly leaves few stones unturned. Beginning with Bush’s formative years and tracing the development of her highly precocious talent through the making of such landmark albums as The Kick Inside , Lionheart and the game-changing Hounds Of Love , Under The Ivy paints a highly revealing portrait of a singular artist who has always prioritised her privacy.

8: Jerry Hopkins & Danny Sugerman: ‘No One Here Gets Out Alive: The Biography Of Jim Morrison’ (Plexus Books, 1980)

It’s hard to believe now, but The Doors ’ popularity waned quite dramatically in the years immediately following Jim Morrison ’s death in July 1971. Indeed, such was the lack of interest that Rolling Stone writer Jerry Hopkins’ initial draft of No One Here Gets Out Alive met with indifference from most publishing houses. However, after Danny Sugerman – initially a super-fan and band associate who went on to manage the post-Morrison Doors – added further content, the book was eventually published in 1980.

Its alleged historical inaccuracies have drawn fire from some quarters, yet No One Here Gets Alive played a crucial role in bringing The Doors’ music back into the spotlight. It was published in the wake of the release of the An American Prayer album , for which the three surviving Doors added new music to their frontman’s spoken-word poetry, and its arrival coincided with the release of the band’s multi-platinum-selling Greatest Hits , which surely helped the book top most of the best-seller lists at the time. No One Here Gets Alive had moved over five million copies by the mid-90s, and it has kept right on selling. Regardless of any blemishes, it’s still an essential title for anyone intrigued by the singular life and times of one of the best frontman in rock history .

7: Jeff Chang: ‘Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History Of The Hip-Hop Generation’ (Picador, 2005)

A San Francisco Bay Area-based author and journalist, Jeff Chang contributed to publications such as The Village Voice , Spin and the San Francisco Bay Guardian before his book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History Of The Hip-Hop Generation was published in 2005. Still rightly regarded as a magnum opus, this immaculately researched book does exactly what its title promises, presenting detailed portraits of the scene’s trailblazing figures such as DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Ice Cube and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, in addition to a host of insiders including graffiti artists, gang members, DJs and activists. Still one of the best music biographies out there, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop won the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award in 2005, and it arguably remains the final word on the pioneering early days of hip-hop.

6: Tony Fletcher: ‘A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga Of The Smiths’ (Windmill, 2013)

The devil certainly will find books for The Smiths ’ idle fans to read… Indeed, it would be remiss not to note that Simon Goddard’s excellent The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life is also essential reading. However, when it comes to capturing the very essence of indie-pop’s most influential foursome, then it’s surely Tony Fletcher’s A Light That Never Goes Out which best illuminates their remarkable story. Exhaustively researched and also taking the deepest of dives into all four members’ formative years, Fletcher’s book examines everything from the band’s earliest rehearsals through to the recording of their landmark studio albums and what each bandmate did in their post-Smiths lives. Engrossing and forensically detailed, A Light That Never Goes Out still shines like a beacon among the best music biographies.

5: Mick Wall: ‘Iron Maiden: Run To The Hills – The Authorised Biography’ (Sanctuary Publishing, 1998)

As a long-time contributor to publications such Kerrang! and Classic Rock , and with a background in PR, Mick Wall has long been accepted as one of the rock world’s finest chroniclers. Indeed, he had already authored successful, officially sanctioned tomes on the likes of Ozzy Osbourne ( Diary Of A Madman ), Marillion ( Market Square Heroes ) and Guns N’ Roses ( The Most Dangerous Band In The World ) before Iron Maiden gave him the nod to write their official biography.

Accordingly, Run To The Hills doesn’t disappoint. It’s an extremely well-researched and well-structured read, further buoyed by commentary aplenty from current band members and ex-members alike, with prime mover Steve Harris frequently making his presence felt. The chapters covering the band’s formative period of 1976 to 1979, before they signed their deal with EMI, are especially illuminating, but Wall rides Maiden’s rollercoaster career with skill and insight, with the book’s updated editions also getting stuck into the band’s post-2000 career.

4: David Ritz: ‘Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye’ (Da Capo, 1985)

David Ritz came into Marvin Gaye’s orbit after the legendary soul man was impressed by the author’s defence of his much-misunderstood 1978 opus, Here, My Dear , in the pages of Rolling Stone . This mutual respect led to Ritz conducting a series of in-depth interviews with Gaye during the early 80s – conversations which eventually resulted in the publication of Divided Soul barely 12 months after the iconic singer was shot and killed by his own father, on 1 April 1984.

One of the strangest deaths in music history , Gaye’s demise left the music world reeling, but Divided Soul truly honoured the singer’s legacy. Ritz (who also inspired the title of Gaye’s comeback hit, Sexual Healing) was given intimate access to the minutiae of the star’s life, and he used it to create an absorbing portrait of a brilliant yet immensely troubled artist. Indeed, with further insight donated by the likes of Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Motown boss Berry Gordy, Divided Soul amounts to a biography truly deserving of the adjective “definitive”.

3: Mary Gabriel: ‘Madonna: A Rebel Life’ (Little, Brown, 2023)

Mary Gabriel’s A Rebel Life is one of the most recent entries in this list of the best music biographies, but it’s a book that clearly covets longevity. Totalling over 800 pages in all, it’s a considerably weightier proposition than most, but then there’s only ever going to be one Madonna Louise Ciccone , and A Rebel Life tells her astonishing story with the gravitas it deserves.

As the author of a Pulitzer Prize-listed Karl Marx biography, and with years of experience at Reuters behind her, Gabriel has a serious CV, and she brings all her skills to bear on A Rebel Heart , tracing Madonna’s astonishing career arc from her Michigan roots to her irresistible rise to fame and subsequent decades-long domination of pop’s top table. Typical of the rave reviews that greeted its arrival, The Guardian declared that the book helps the reader to “understand Madonna the person as well as Madonna the concept”, and its slew of nominations ( The Sunday Times ’ Book Of The Year; The Telegraph ’s Best Music Book Of The Year, to name but two) suggest it will continue to feature in lists of the best music biographies for years to come.

2: Paul Trynka: ‘Starman: David Bowie – The Definitive Biography’ (Sphere, 2012)

Even casual fans would imagine that an iconic, game-changing performer such as David Bowie would inspire a number of biographies – and they’d be right in that assumption. Indeed, other detailed and meticulously researched Bowie tomes, such as David Buckley’s Strange Fascination and Nicholas Pegg’s The Complete David Bowie , are valuable and well worth tracking down, as is Paul Morley’s The Age Of Bowie .

Arguably, though, all these titles are shaded by the one written by former Mojo editor Paul Trynka, whose Starman: David Bowie – The Definitive Biography certainly comes close to living up to its title. Admittedly, Trynka didn’t get detailed testimony from Bowie himself, but he nonetheless does an extremely thorough job in chronicling the chameleonic star’s every incarnation, from his pre-fame days as a teenage mod in south London through to the birth of his Ziggy Stardust alter ego, the wired paranoia of his Thin White Duke phase, and his still-influential “Berlin Trilogy”. The book’s updated edition takes the story all the way to the making and release of Bowie’s penultimate album, The Next Day .

1: Jimmy McDonough: ‘Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography’ (Cape, 2003)

As with David Bowie, the serious Neil Young fan has more than one option when it comes to biographies, and certainly Harvey Kubernik’s Neil Young: Heart Of Gold is also worthy of consideration here – not least as it was published more recently, taking in all the twists and turns in the singular Canadian-American’s career up to 2014’s acclaimed A Letter Home .

However, while Heart Of Gold encompasses a decade more than Jimmy McDonough’s Shakey , the latter title still feels like the most definitive Young book in circulation. Taking a forensic look at everything from its subject’s early days in Canada through his relocation to California and his mercurial career with Buffalo Springfield, plus the formation of the long-running Crazy Horse, his stadium-level success with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and his return to mainstream glory during the 90s, McDonough’s book really does divine the very essence of its enigmatic subject. A worthy title to top this list of the best music biographies, Shakey is, to quote The Guardian ’s review, “a rock-solid literary triumph”.

Now check out the best music autobiographies .

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100 Must-Read Musician Memoirs and Biographies

Ashley Holstrom

Ashley Holstrom helps make books at Sourcebooks. She lives near Chicago with her cat named after Hemingway and her bookshelves organized by color. Newsletter: Crooked Reads . Twitter: @alholstrom .

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At least, that’s how I ended up obsessed with Guns N’ Roses. And The Doors. And Motley Crue. And Aerosmith. And, in the future, many more that I’m holding on to for just the right moment.

Here are 100 musician memoirs and biographies, sorted by the music’s genre (loosely defined), to get you rockin’ and rollin’ and movin’ and groovin’.

Country/Folk

My Cross to Bear by Gregg Allman

Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie

Rat Girl by Kristin Hersh

Love, Janis by Laura Joplin

Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn, George Vecsey

Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography by Jimmy McDonough

Reba: My Story by Reba McEntire, Tom Carter

It’s a Long Story: My Life by Willie Nelson

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock by Gene Odom, Frank Dorman

Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt

The 50th Law by 50 Cent, Robert Greene

Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm by Percy Carey, Ronald Wimberly

Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality by Chuck D, Yusuf Jah

The Way I Am by Eminem

Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption-from South Central to Hollywood by Ice-T, Douglas Century

Unashamed by Lecrae Moore

The Tao of Wu by The RZA

The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur

How to Ruin Everything: Essays by George Watsky

Gone ‘Til November by Lil Wayne

The Good Life by Tony Bennett

The Godfather of Soul: An Autobiography by James Brown

Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker by Stanley Crouch

Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis

Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters by Robert Gordon

Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King by B.B. King, David Ritz

John Coltrane: His Life and Music by Lewis Porter

Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker in Her Time by Phyllis Rose

Now and Then… by Gil Scott-Heron

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout

Pop/Punk/Reggae/Ska

Catch a Fire: The Autobiography by Melanie B.

Black By Design: A 2-Tone Memoir by Pauline Black

Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of the Clash by Pat Gilbert

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace

If Only by Geri Halliwell

Herbie Hancock: Possibilities by Herbie Hancock, Lisa Dickey

Reckless: My Life as a Pretender by Chrissie Hynde

Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon

I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones, Paul Morley

A Natural Woman: A Memoir by Carole King

Army of She: Icelandic, Iconoclastic, Irrepressible Björk by Evelyn McDonnell

Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones by Dee Dee Ramone

Get in the Van: On the Road With Black Flag by Henry Rollins

Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or My Life As a Fabulous Ronette by Ronnie Spector, Vince Waldron

Rod: The Autobiography by Rod Stewart

Diana Ross: A Biography by J. Randy Taraborrelli

In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran by Nigel John Taylor

I, Tina by Tina Turner, Kurt Loder

Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White

Pharrell: Places and Spaces I’ve Been by Pharrell Williams

Rock ‘n’ Roll

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine

Between a Heart and a Rock Place: A Memoir by Pat Benatar

Chuck Berry: The Autobiography by Chuck Berry

Moonage Daydream: The Life & Times of Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Lips Unsealed: A Memoir by Belinda Carlisle

Cash by Johnny Cash

Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton

Journals by Kurt Cobain

Not Dead Yet by Phil Collins

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello

  Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix by Charles R. Cross

Neon Angel by Cherie Currie

Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division by Deborah Curtis

Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis

Things The Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett

Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac by Mick Fleetwood, Stephen Davis

Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star by Ian Hunter

Dancing with Myself by Billy Idol

Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury by Lesley-Ann Jones

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

White Line Fever by Lemmy Kilmister

The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee

Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead by Phil Lesh

Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love by Courtney Love

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell by Marilyn Manson

Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason, Philip Dodd

It’s So Easy: And Other Lies by Duff McKagan

Autobiography by Morrissey

Joan Jett by Todd Oldham, Joan Jett

I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

Rocks: My Life in and out of Aerosmith by Joe Perry

Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley

Life by Keith Richards

Crazy from the Heat by David Lee Roth

Bird Lives!: The High Life & Hard Times of Charlie (Yardbird) Parker by Ross Russell

Slash by Slash, Anthony Bozza

Somebody to Love?: A Rock-and-Roll Memoir by Grace Slick, Andrea Cagan

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Face the Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley

Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good by Corey Taylor

Who I Am by Pete Townshend

The Real Frank Zappa Book by Frank Zappa, Peter Occhiogrosso

Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick

Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday, William Dufty

Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz

Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues by Elijah Wald

Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman by Fred Wesley

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The 10 Best Music Books of 2023

By Pitchfork

Every year there are countless books released about music—2023 alone included dishy memoirs from Britney Spears, Barbra Streisand, and Sly Stone, plus a big-deal, authorized bio on Tupac. In our estimation, the best works tend to give the reader new ears with which to listen. What follows is a list of personal favorites from this year, as picked by Pitchfork staffers and contributors. Happy reading!

Check out all of Pitchfork’s 2023 wrap-up coverage here .

60 Songs That Explain the ’90s

In 2020, as the pandemic forced everyone who didn’t live on a megayacht to upend their entire lives, retreating into the nostalgia of one’s youth became an all-but-necessary coping mechanism. Veteran music writer Rob Harvilla felt that same urge. But instead of merely staring into the middle distance while washing dishes to Gin Blossoms’ “Hey Jealousy,” he put his musical memories to work and made an essayistic podcast called 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s . And now that very funny and startlingly insightful show—which has grown to cover more than 100 songs—has its own very funny and startlingly insightful book. (Full disclosure: I once lost money to Harvilla in a basement poker game in 2010, and recently guested on the 60 Songs podcast.)

The entire endeavor succeeds because Harvilla is so good at conveying his teenage excitement (he’s unafraid to use the descriptor “rad,” repeatedly) while also offering the wisdom of a fortysomething dad who’s been writing about music for much of his adult life. For every loving one-liner (listening to Celine Dion sing is “like drinking rosé from a fire hose”) or list of the 20 Worst Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles (don’t worry, “Party on Your Pussy” makes the Top 10), there are sober reflections on Courtney Love reading Kurt Cobain’s suicide note, or how white rap fans (like him, like me) would be smart to understand that they’re eavesdropping when they listen to a song like Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day.” Earnest, empathetic, and admirably goofy, Harvilla is an ideal guide to the most random decade in pop history. –Ryan Dombal

All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Black Punk Now

When James Spooner first logged on in 2001, he immediately Googled “Black punk.” A blank screen stared back at him: There were zero links. Spooner knew this was inaccurate—he had countless Black punk friends and collaborators—but the experience underscored that if no one else was going to document his culture, then it was up to him. This is what motivated Spooner to create the Afropunk documentary and festival, as well as compile this new anthology of writing alongside Black Card author Chris L. Terry.

Black Punk Now uses a multi-genre approach, from fiction to graphics to screenplays, to showcase the ways Black punks move through the world. In “The Princess and the Pit,” Mariah Stovall explores the racialized beauty standards of punk shows via a feminist fairytale. The script for comedian Kash Abdulmalik’s short film, Let Me Be Understood , meditates on one musician’s desire to have an honest relationship with his father.

The collection’s greatest strength is how it captures the pure joy felt by its contributors while living on the fringes, the integrity they’ve gained from being misunderstood by the white establishment. (As contributor Bobby Hackney Jr. puts it, what is more punk than challenging what people think “Black” is supposed to be?) Taken together, these works show readers that “punk” is a commitment to liberation from the tedium of mainstream culture, and a way to demand much more. –Mary Retta

The Golden Voice: The Ballad of Cambodian Rock’s Lost Queen

One of the best graphic novels of the year is a riveting portrait of an undersung musical hero and an intense document of wartime Cambodia. Gregory Cahill tells the story of Ros Serey Sothea, the prolific ’60s and ’70s Cambodian rock singer who seemed to rocket from rice farmer to national treasure overnight. It’s an underdog story told through the lens of the Cambodian Civil War’s propaganda machine.

Scenes of Cambodian rock’n’roll club nights and studio recording sessions are depicted in a blissful sunrise palette of deep reds and oranges, with sheet music floating translucently into the ether. Music is central to the experience of enjoying the book; there’s an accompanying playlist, and each page has track cues, so the sound of Sothea’s music is never abstract. But the book is also full of darkness: A constant military presence hangs over Golden Voice , and it closes with the Khmer Rouge seizing power and burning Sothea’s records. It’s a tragedy with heart-wrenching illustrations and a solid history lesson, soundtracked by incredible vintage Cambodian records. –Evan Minsker

Goth: A History

Despite its totemic title, Goth: A History is neither a sociology textbook nor a definitive document of the subculture. Instead, Lol Tolhurst—a core member of the Cure across its gothiest period—has written a memoir and social history of his years in the scene’s cobwebbed trenches. Structured more like the florid chaos of the Cure’s Pornography than the linear minimalism of their Seventeen Seconds , the book wends its way from capsule meditations on the genre’s influences (Nico, Bowie, Camus, Sartre) into diaristic recollections from the Cure’s gloomy golden era; he wraps up with mini-profiles on fellow travelers like Cocteau Twins and Nine Inch Nails. But many of the book’s most revealing passages are its most personal, like running into Depeche Mode’s Andy Fletcher while in rehab, or discovering that his buttoned-up IRS agent was also a secret member of the sect.

Situating goth at the intersection of punk and Sylvia Plath, Tolhurst describes the movement as a necessary reaction to the bleakness of post-WWII England. Yet, as he considers its decades-long endurance and 21st-century mainstreaming, he also notes the universality of its message: “It can get lonely being the only weirdo in town. We all want a tribe to belong to.” At Portland’s Powell’s Books, I bought my own copy of Goth along with an armload of children’s books. “It looks like I’m trying to turn my daughter into a goth,” I said to the woman behind the register. Without so much as a smile, she replied, “We all get there eventually.” –Philip Sherburne

Hachette Books

Kleenex/LiLiPUT

In the raw rapture of their shredded shrieks and destabilized noise, O.G. punks Kleenex made the Sex Pistols sound like the Rolling Stones. Though the Swiss group broke up in 1983—changing their name to LiLiPUT in 1979 after a threat from the tissue company—it’s taken 40 years for English-language fans to fully access the primary document of this crucial all-woman band: the diaries of guitarist Marlene Marder, who died in 2016.

Originally published in German in 1986, the diary was also a scrapbook capturing “the detritus that comes with playing in a band,” as described by editor Grace Ambrose, who instigated this English translation for the inaugural book on her Kansas City, Missouri-based punk label, Thrilling Living, which has released music by the likes of Special Interest and Girlsperm.

Supplemented by zine clippings, photos, and visual ephemera—including relics of Kleenex’s 1979 UK tour with the Raincoats—the collage-like Kleenex/LiLiPUT book creates its own paradigm for punk storytelling by imposing no definitive Kleenex narrative, instead replicating the ever-in-process nature of the unruly music. Legendary rock critic Greil Marcus’ original introduction to Marder’s diary is included along with another of his enlightening columns on the band, in which he writes, “Punk had good taste in ancestors.” He was talking about the Kleenex-Dada connection, but the same rings true of punks today, who see themselves in this history still. –Jenn Pelly

Thrilling Living

Lou Reed: The King of New York

Several strong Lou Reed bios were already out there by the time Will Hermes published The King of New York this fall. Victor Bockris’ Transformer: The Complete Lou Reed Story is a compelling document of the New York underground of the ’60s and early ’70s, while Anthony DeCurtis’ Lou Reed: A Life has first-person intimacy while situating the singer’s work among his rock contemporaries. But Hermes tells the best story, finding the ideal mix of big-picture narrative sweep and intriguing details.

The book frames Reed’s life in a way that speaks to our current cultural moment, revealing how the fluidness of sexuality and gender in Reed’s milieu hinted at the world to come, and it deepens your appreciation of his hugely varied recorded output. Hermes’ previous book, Love Goes to Buildings on Fire , was a personal examination of New York’s influential downtown music scene in the ’70s, and the city is just as influential here, growing and changing alongside Reed while forever informing his art. This shifting contextual backdrop makes Hermes especially fun to read on the Velvet Underground frontman’s notoriously spotty solo albums. Few artists risked failure like Reed did, and this book will have you digging for records you once ignored, from his wispy debut to the shocking power of Lulu ’s “ Junior Dad .” –Mark Richardson

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse

When writer Howard Fishman first heard Connie Converse’s beautifully melancholic folk music at a party in 2010, he became consumed by a quest to find out what became of the obscure mid-century singer. Thirteen years and 550 pages later, the New Yorker contributor has turned in the definitive history of Converse’s life. With To Anyone Who Ever Asks , he traces her story, from her tragedy-marred early years in small-town New England, to an escape to New York in the 1940s and ’50s and eventual retreat to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Converse eventually disappeared in 1974, speeding off in her Volkswagen and writing to loved ones asking them not to look for her.

Fishman uncovers not the shy wallflower that her songs suggest, but a binge-drinking, heavy-smoking bohemian widely ahead of her time, who performed for Walter Cronkite, composed operas, and championed civil rights. He occasionally falls into fanboy tendencies, glorifying every artistic move by Converse with uncritical praise. But for anyone who has ever wondered about the person behind these lost songs, or just what it means to make art that no one will fully appreciate until decades later, To Anyone Who Ever Asks provides as much of a proper answer as we’ll ever get. –David Glickman

Testigos del fin del mundo

In his debut book, Bolivian music critic and professor Javier A. Rodríguez-Camacho chronicles the untold history of 2010s Ibero-American indie music. The book includes artists from Latin America, the United States, and Spain—an editorial choice that illustrates how multiple genres and geographical locations of the Spanish-speaking world have always been in conversation with each other. Instead of presenting a definitive canon, Rodríguez-Camacho traces an incomplete but dynamic map of the era’s scenes and sounds through 120 albums, spanning everything from the Chilean indie pop explosion to the Mexican ruidosón movement.

It’s an archival endeavor structured through individual album reviews, each of which transcends mere formal description. The chapters are meticulously contextualized, immersing readers into the musical and sociopolitical milieu from which these albums sprouted. But they also explore how these artists speak to shared experiences across the Spanish-speaking diaspora—regardless of the “zip code of their residence, their accents, or their stylistic influences.” The book is packed with delightful easter eggs, too, like playlist recommendations from guest contributors. Its creative direction is vividly inspired by the blogs and streaming platforms that revolutionized the decade, with tracklists, sidebars, and credits surrounding each review as though you can click on them. Whether you’re reading up on culture-shifting artists like Arca, or discovering Puerto Rican trap pioneers like Füete Billëte, Testigos del fin del mundo is an illuminating compendium that documents scenes and sounds that have lived in the shadows for too long. —Isabelia Herrera

Rey Naranjo Editores

Wayward: Just Another Life to Live

Those drawn to Vashti Bunyan ’s memoir likely know her story already: a ’70s British singer-songwriter whose freak-folk debut Just Another Diamond Day developed a cult following—thanks in part to fans like Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart—that inspired her to return in the 2000s with a long-awaited follow-up. Originally released in the UK last year, Wayward delivers far more than that familiar redemption arc.

Bunyan’s life story is one of striking defiance and quiet beauty, the combination of which moves the heart in unexpected ways. She recounts wearing the fragile shellac of her father’s 78s so thin that her parents removed the needle as punishment; skipping class to play guitar and fraternize with soon-to-be Monty Python co-founders Michael Palin and Terry Jones; and recording her debut single with Jimmy Page while Mick Jagger facetiously imitated her voice. “I was quietly delighting in being a small part of the big fuck-you,” she writes.

Perpetually drawn to the outdoors, from searching for bones amid post-WW2 rubble as a kid, to voyaging to Donovan ’s Scottish commune by horse and carriage in her 20s, Bunyan long rooted her music’s roving spirit in a desire for physicality that’s muddy and crestfallen. For a figure that’s been upheld as fragile and innocent, the true story of Bunyan the musician is that of a woman-turned-nomad fueled by an awareness that the more people and places you meet, the more your perception of the world grows. –Nina Corcoran

White Rabbit

World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music

Jeff Tweedy admits in the introduction to his third book, World Within a Song , that he would have started here, with brief love letters to important songs throughout his life, had he been more confident as a writer. Instead, the Wilco frontman felt the pressure to pen a more conventional memoir in 2018’s Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) , then followed that up with How to Write One Song , his down-to-earth approach to the guru-littered gutters of the “creativity guide” genre. Both books are excellent—warm, funny, unflinchingly honest, and clearly the work of a true music fan. But World Within a Song allows Tweedy to go full nerd, not as a tangent to a story but as the story itself. The effect is something like a book-length version of Pitchfork’s own 5-10-15-20 interview series , where stray memories become reflexively intertwined with certain lyrics or melodies.

Tweedy writes like he talks—direct, enthusiastic, relatable, self-aware when he’s corny—and it’s a quick and enjoyable read even when he opines on well-worn hits like “Smoke on the Water.” The best parts are when he focuses on specific moments with family members that shifted his view of things: his mom connecting to Lene Lovich’s “Lucky Number” while watching the “New Wave” episode of The Midnight Special with him, her own “you live alone, you die alone” worldview reflected back; discovering, after many years of assuming otherwise, that his cousin did not write Bachman–Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business.” It’s not all classic rock and vintage alternative, though—I gotta hand it to Tweedy, I didn’t expect to be so moved by his take on Rosalía’s “Bizcochito.” He writes, upon Googling lyric translations and realizing he’d understood the emotion even though he doesn’t speak Spanish, “I could actually hear the look on her face. I could see the man she was singing to—pinpoint the heartache to a specific moment in her life.” –Jill Mapes

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60 Best Books About Musicians – Guitarist Biographies

Let’s talk books! I’ve been busy devouring famous musician biographies over the past few months – guitarists in particular. In fact, it has almost become an addiction – my Amazon wishlist of books about musicians has grown way out of control!

Some are hilarious, others are shocking, most are inspirational and/or motivational. Almost always you’ll gain valuable knowledge and insights that will lead to you becoming a better guitarist/musician yourself.

Books About Musicians Every Guitarist Should Read

In light of my recent addiction, I decided to raid my wishlist and put together this list of some of the best famous musician biographies, autobiographies, diaries and memoirs. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve read all sixty of these, but I certainly plan to! How many have you bagged?

This list of musician biographies is arranged alphabetically by first name. Links to each books about musicians have been provided so that you can easily grab your own copy.

I purposely didn’t include any band biographies as I wanted this list to be for individual musician memoirs only. Maybe we’ll do bands next!

1. B.B King – Blues All Around Me

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In B.B. King’s Blues All Around Me , we dive into the soul-stirring world of a blues legend, where every chord tells a story and every riff bears an emotion. B.B. King, with his trusty Lucille by his side, unfolds a journey that’s as deep and rich as the blues itself, taking us from his humble beginnings to towering heights of musical mastery.

It’s a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the man behind the music, showcasing his triumphs, heartaches, and the relentless pursuit of his craft.

2. Bob Dylan – Chronicles

“Bob Dylan – Chronicles ” takes us on a wild ride through the kaleidoscopic journey of a music icon who’s always danced to the beat of his own drum. With Dylan at the wheel, we zigzag through the defining moments of his career, from the gritty streets of New York to the spotlight’s blinding glare, all while keeping it real with anecdotes that feel like you’re kicking back with Bob himself.

It’s part memoir, part stream of consciousness, and all Dylan, packed with insights and reflections that only he could deliver.

3. Brad Paisley – Diary of a Player

“Brad Paisley – Diary of a Player ” strums its way into your heart, charting the journey of a guitar-slinging kid who dreamed big and ended up living those dreams. It’s like sitting down with Brad himself on a cozy porch, guitars in hand, as he shares the licks, laughs, and life lessons that shaped him into the country music titan he is today.

This book is a backstage pass to the highs, lows, and twangy tunes of Paisley’s life, peppered with wisdom from the guitar gods who guided him. It’s an ode to the six-string and a heartfelt thank-you note to the art that gave his life melody and meaning.

4. Brian ‘Head’ Welch – Save Me From Myself

“Brian ‘Head’ Welch – Save Me From Myself ” dives headfirst into the mosh pit of life, recounting the turbulent journey of a rock star who hit the brakes before the cliff edge. Welch takes us on a backstage tour of his rise with Korn, only to reveal the shadows that lurk behind the spotlight—addiction, despair, and a soul-searching quest for peace.

It’s like chilling with Welch in a dimly lit room, as he shares the raw, unvarnished truth of his fight to find redemption and a higher calling beyond the screams and guitar riffs. This book isn’t just a memoir; it’s a lifeline thrown into the stormy seas of fame, proving that even the wildest hearts can find their way home.

5. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

In “Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run ,” the Boss himself takes us for a spin down the backstreets of his life, revving through the early days in Jersey bars to the dizzying heights of global stardom. It’s like Springsteen’s strumming the soundtrack of his own story, with each chapter a new track that gets you tapping your feet or nodding in reflection.

This book isn’t just a memoir; it’s a heart-to-heart with one of rock’s most enduring icons, offering a glimpse into the dreams, battles, and behind-the-scenes moments that shaped him.

6. Buddy Guy – When I Left Home

“Buddy Guy – When I Left Home ” strings you along on a blues-infused journey from the cotton fields of Louisiana to the electric buzz of Chicago’s legendary blues scene. It’s like sitting down in a smoky club, listening to Guy himself recount tales of his ascent in the world of blues, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton.

This book isn’t just a memoir; it’s a deep dive into the soul of the blues, seen through the eyes of a man who lived it, loved it, and helped shape it. Every page thrums with the passion, pain, and raw talent of a true guitar hero, inviting you to feel every note of his storied career.

7. Carlos Santana – The Universal Tone

“Carlos Santana – The Universal Tone ” takes you on a kaleidoscopic journey through the life of a guitar legend whose strings resonated with the soul of the world. It’s like Santana is riffing right next to you, sharing the symphony of his life—from the vibrant streets of Tijuana to the psychedelic stages of Woodstock.

This book is a soulful melody of spirituality, music, and the universal search for harmony, all seen through the eyes of a man whose guitar could speak the language of the heart. Each chapter pulsates with the rhythms of jazz, rock, and Latin beats, painting a portrait of an artist whose music transcended boundaries and touched the universal soul.

8. Chuck Berry – Brown Eyed Handsome Man

“Chuck Berry – Brown Eyed Handsome Man ” struts through the life of the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer with the same swagger and rhythm that Berry brought to the stage. It’s like hopping in a Cadillac with Chuck himself, cruising down the highways of his storied career, from the dingy bars of St. Louis to the bright lights of fame.

This book lays down the soundtrack of a musical revolution, with Berry’s guitar licks and lyrical wit front and center, showcasing the man who could make a guitar talk and audiences around the world listen. It’s an intimate jam session, revealing the triumphs and challenges of the man whose tunes shaped the beat of a generation.

9. Danny Gatton – Unfinished Business

“Danny Gatton – Unfinished Business ” strings you along on a journey with the guitar world’s unsung hero, whose fingers flew faster than the eye could follow. It’s like chilling in a dive bar, listening to tales of Gatton’s legendary licks and the notes he left hanging in the air, a testament to a talent that burned too bright and too fast.

This book isn’t just a biography; it’s a tribute to the man known as “The Telemaster,” whose eclectic blend of jazz, blues, rockabilly, and country left an indelible mark on the music world. Every page resonates with the melody of missed opportunities and the haunting beauty of what could have been, painting a portrait of a musician whose business with the guitar was truly unfinished.

10. Dave Grohl – Times Like His

“Dave Grohl – Times Like His ” drums up the beat of a life lived at full volume, charting the journey from a punk kid banging on pots and pans to the rock titan fronting the Foo Fighters. Grohl invites you to a backstage pass into his world, where every chord has a story, and every riff is a memory.

It’s a raw, uncut track of a memoir, full of heart, humor, and the kind of rock ‘n’ roll wisdom that can only come from a life well-lived on and off the stage.

11. Dave Mustaine – A Heavy Metal Memoir

“Dave Mustaine – A Heavy Metal Memoir ” cranks the volume to eleven, taking you on a headbanging journey through the life of Megadeth’s frontman, from his tumultuous departure from Metallica to the pinnacle of thrash metal glory. Mustaine doesn’t just share stories; he rips through the fabric of the heavy metal scene with the same ferocity as his guitar solos.

Reading this book is like being on tour with Mustaine himself, experiencing the chaos, creativity, and catharsis that fueled his rise to stardom. It’s an unapologetically raw and real look at the highs and lows of a rock legend, filled with enough sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll to satisfy even the most hardcore fans.

12. Dimebag Darrell Abbott – Black Tooth Grin

“Dimebag Darrell Abbott – Black Tooth Grin ” rips through the strings of the late, great Pantera guitarist’s life, capturing the raw energy and unbridled passion that defined him. It’s like being in the pit at a Pantera show, feeling the power of Dimebag’s riffs and the warmth of his larger-than-life personality.

This book doesn’t just recount tales from the road; it dives deep into the heart and soul of a man whose life was a symphony of loud, fast, and heavy moments. It’s a tribute that’s as intense and unforgettable as Dimebag’s legacy, inviting fans and newcomers alike to headbang through the pages of his extraordinary life.

13. Don Felder – Heaven and Hell

“Don Felder – Heaven and Hell ” tunes you into the highs and lows of rock ‘n’ roll, straight from the strings of The Eagles’ former lead guitarist. Felder takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the glittering peaks and shadowy valleys of fame, with every chord striking a balance between the euphoria of creating timeless hits and the tumult of band conflicts.

It’s like grabbing a backstage pass to the inner workings of one of rock’s most legendary bands, all told with the candor and insight only Felder could provide. This memoir is a backstage jam session, filled with tales of music, mayhem, and the long road to finding harmony both on stage and off.

14. Duane Allman – Skydog

“Duane Allman – Skydog ” strings together the meteoric journey of the guitar virtuoso whose life was a lightning bolt in the world of rock and blues. With each page, you’re riding shotgun with Allman, cruising through the creation of the Allman Brothers Band, and diving headfirst into the soul-stirring solos that defined a generation.

This book is like a jam session with Duane himself, intimate and electrifying, revealing the man behind the legend—the triumphs, the tragedies, and the tracks that made him immortal. It’s a heartfelt tribute to a musician whose strings sang with the kind of passion and precision that comes once in a blue moon, inviting readers to feel the resonance of his legacy.

Related Post – The Best Slide Guitarists Of All Time !

15. Duff McKagan – It’s So Easy. And Other Lies

“Duff McKagan – It’s So Easy. And Other Lies ” is a rollercoaster ride through the life of one of rock’s most recognizable bassists, giving us the lowdown on the highs and lows of rock stardom. Duff spills the beans on the wild days with Guns N’ Roses, hitting rock bottom, and clawing his way back up.

It’s packed with jaw-dropping stories, yet it’s the journey of self-discovery and redemption that really grabs you. Peppered with wit, it’s like hanging out with Duff himself, except you’re diving into the pages of his life, no backstage pass needed.

16. Elvis – Last Train to Memphis

“Elvis – Last Train to Memphis ” takes you on a nostalgic ride back to the era of The King, Elvis Presley, before the glitz and the glam took over. It’s like cracking open a time capsule, uncovering the raw energy and ambition of a young Elvis, chasing dreams with a guitar and a truckload of charisma.

The book peels back the layers of fame to reveal the struggles and triumphs of rock ‘n’ roll’s most iconic figure. With a storytelling vibe that feels like swapping tales on a lazy, sun-soaked afternoon, it brings you face to face with the man behind the legend.

17. Eric Clapton – The Autobiography

“ Eric Clapton – The Autobiography ” dives headfirst into the turbulent waters of Slowhand’s life, pulling no punches. It’s a raw, honest look at Clapton’s journey through the highs of rock god status and the lows of personal demons and loss.

The book feels like a heart-to-heart with Clapton himself, as he lays bare his soul, sharing tales of love, music, and redemption. It’s as if you’re sitting across from him, a guitar leaning against the couch, while he recounts the wild ride of his life with a mix of regret, pride, and a dash of wisdom.

18. Fieldy – Got the Life

“Fieldy – Got the Life ” slams you into the pulsating heart of Korn’s bassist, Fieldy, as he recounts the dizzying ascent to fame and the dark descent that followed. It’s like a backstage pass to his soul, where the party never stops until it almost does, permanently .

With brutal honesty, Fieldy dishes on the chaos of addiction, the wake-up call that changed everything, and the path to redemption through faith. Reading it feels like catching up with an old friend who’s seen the edge, danced on it, and lived to tell the tale, all while keeping a rhythm that’s hard to forget.

19. Frank Zappa – The Real Frank Zappa Book

“Frank Zappa – The Real Frank Zappa Book ” is an off-the-rails journey into the mind of one of music’s most eccentric geniuses. It’s like sitting down for a coffee with Zappa himself, except the coffee’s spiked with a dose of pure, unadulterated Zappa philosophy.

The book zigzags through the surreal landscapes of Frank’s life, music, and unfiltered thoughts on everything under the sun (and some things possibly from another galaxy). It’s a wild, no-holds-barred tour of a truly unique spirit, served up with a side of sharp wit and an undercurrent of serious genius that makes you rethink the ordinary.

20. George Benson – The Autobiography

“ George Benson – The Autobiography ” strings you along on a melodious journey through the life of the guitar virtuoso himself, George Benson. It’s like sitting in on a private jam session where Benson narrates his rise from the gritty streets of Pittsburgh to the glittering stages of jazz and pop superstardom.

With each page, Benson plucks at the heartstrings, sharing the ups and downs, the hits and misses, and the soulful tunes of his life. It’s an intimate, groove-filled ride that lets you feel the passion and dedication of a man who truly lived to play, making it feel less like reading a book and more like listening to a long, soulful solo that you never want to end.

21. George Harrison – I Me Mine

“George Harrison – I Me Mine ” takes you on a groovy trip into the quiet Beatle’s mind, offering a rare glimpse behind the curtain of George Harrison’s life and soul. It’s like sitting down in a dimly lit room, incense burning, as George strums his guitar and shares the stories behind the songs, the spirituality, and the personal journeys that defined him.

Through his own words, you’re invited to explore the depths of Harrison’s thoughts on fame, faith, and the music that flowed through him like a mystical river. This book isn’t just a read; it’s an intimate conversation with a legend, making you feel like you’re part of a very exclusive, very laid-back hangout session.

22. Gregg Allman – My Cross to Bear

“Gregg Allman – My Cross to Bear ” throws you headfirst into the whirlwind life of one of rock’s true survivors. It’s like sitting at a dive bar with Allman himself, nursing a whiskey while he recounts the wild ride of founding The Allman Brothers Band, the music that set the world on fire, and the personal demons that nearly did the same to him.

With raw honesty and a gritty sense of humor, Gregg shares tales of love, loss, and redemption, all set against the backdrop of a changing America. Reading it feels like listening to a bluesy riff that echoes long after the last page is turned, leaving you feeling like you’ve just been part of something real, something raw, and undeniably authentic.

23. Jaco Pastorius – The Extraordinary and Tragic Life

“Jaco Pastorius – The Extraordinary and Tragic Life ” dives deep into the turbulent waters of the legendary bassist’s life, capturing the electric buzz of Jaco’s genius and the dark undercurrents that pulled him under. It’s like jamming backstage with Jaco himself, feeling every high of his groundbreaking musical highs and the crushing lows of his personal battles.

The book lays bare the soul of a man who redefined the possibilities of the bass guitar, yet couldn’t escape his own demons. Reading it, you’re on a rollercoaster ride of emotion, from awe at his talent to heartbreak at his downfall, all wrapped in a narrative that’s as compelling as one of Jaco’s own solos.

24. James Hetfield – So Let It Be Written

“James Hetfield – So Let It Be Written ” cranks up the volume on the life of Metallica’s frontman, giving you a front-row seat to the thrash metal revolution. It’s like cracking open Hetfield’s personal diary, revealing the man behind the growling vocals and riff-heavy guitar work.

The book charts the meteoric rise of Metallica, the battles with addiction, and Hetfield’s journey to find balance amidst the chaos of rock stardom. Reading it feels like hanging out in the studio with the band, absorbing the sweat, tears, and raw energy that fueled one of music’s most iconic acts.

25. Janis Joplin – Love Janis

“Janis Joplin – Love Janis ” serves up an intimate, heart-wrenching look at the wild soul of rock’s most unforgettable voice. It’s like flipping through a scrapbook Janis herself might have kept, filled with personal letters, reflections, and the raw, unvarnished truths of her life.

This book pulls you into Janis’s world, where love, pain, and music intertwine in a psychedelic tapestry of the 60s. Reading it feels like a late-night chat with Janis, under a sky full of stars, sharing dreams and fears in equal measure.

26. Hot Wired Guitar: The Life of Jeff Beck

“ Hot Wired Guitar: The Life of Jeff Beck ” strings you along on a riff-filled journey through the life of the guitar maestro himself. It’s like being on a long, winding road trip with Beck’s solos as the soundtrack, exploring every twist and turn of his groundbreaking career.

From the Yardbirds to his solo adventures, the book dives deep into the essence of Beck’s genius, his relentless pursuit of musical perfection, and his influence on rock and blues. Reading it feels like a backstage pass to the mind of a legend, offering a glimpse into the soul of a man who let his guitar do the talking, crafting sounds that still echo through the halls of rock history.

27. Jerry Garcia – An American Life

“Jerry Garcia – An American Life ” invites you on a psychedelic journey through the life of the Grateful Dead’s iconic frontman. It’s like drifting down a river of memories, each turn revealing a new facet of Garcia’s complex, colorful world.

From his early days in the San Francisco music scene to the Dead’s rise as counterculture heroes, the book paints a portrait of a man whose guitar could speak the language of the soul. Reading it feels like a long, strange trip filled with music, mayhem, and moments of transcendence, capturing the spirit of a man who lived his life in the pursuit of the next great jam.

28. Jimi Hendrix – Room Full of Mirrors

“Jimi Hendrix – Room Full of Mirrors ” cranks up the volume on the life of the guitar god, offering a kaleidoscopic view into the world of Jimi Hendrix . It’s like stepping into a Hendrix solo—colorful, explosive, and full of unexpected twists.

From his humble beginnings to becoming the emblem of rock’s psychedelic era, the book delves deep into the mysteries that surrounded his life and the genius that defined his music. Reading it feels like a backstage pass to Jimi’s world, where every page turns with the vibe of a late-night jam session, echoing with the sounds of a guitar legend who left us too soon.

29. Jimmy Page – Jimmy Page

Next up in our list of books about music is ‘ Jimmy ‘. Diving into this book is like strapping in for a wild ride with the mastermind behind Led Zeppelin’s thunderous riffs. It’s an intimate backstage tour of Page’s life, from his session musician days to Zeppelin’s stratospheric rise, and beyond.

The book lays down a track of stories filled with rock ‘n’ roll excess, groundbreaking music, and the mystical aura that seems to surround Page. Reading it feels like flipping through a vinyl collection of classic hits, each chapter a new record that drops the needle on the life of a rock legend, with all the backstage anecdotes and forbidden riffs you’d hope to find.

30. Joe Perry – Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith

“Joe Perry – Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith ” slingshots you into the heart of the rock ‘n’ roll storm that is Aerosmith, all from the perspective of its lead guitarist. It’s like sitting down with Perry himself, guitars leaning against the wall, as he dishes on the dizzying highs and gritty lows of rock stardom.

With a mix of raw honesty and cool detachment, Perry recounts the battles with bandmates, the love affair with music, and the personal demons he faced. Flipping through the pages feels like riffling through a jukebox of Aerosmith’s greatest hits, each story a track that plays back the soundtrack of a life lived at the edge of the stage lights.

31. Joe Satriani – Strange Beautiful Music

“Joe Satriani – Strange Beautiful Music ” takes you on a sonic journey through the strings of Satriani’s guitar, revealing the shred guitarist’s process, inspiration, and the evolution of his sound. It’s like floating through a galaxy of notes and melodies, where each chapter unveils a new planet of soundscapes crafted by the guitar guru himself.

Joe shares the stories behind his iconic tracks, the experimentation with gear, and the philosophical musings on music and life. Reading it feels like jamming with Satriani in his studio, where every riff and solo transports you to a world where music transcends the ordinary, painting the air with strange, beautiful sounds.

32. John Fogerty – Fortunate Son

Next up in this list of books about music is “John Fogerty – Fortunate Son “. This book rocks you through the tumultuous journey of the Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman, from the swamps of the Bayou to the pinnacle of rock fame. It’s like sitting on a porch swing, guitar in hand, as Fogerty recounts the battles with bandmates, the industry sharks, and the personal demons that accompanied his rise.

With a voice as clear and piercing as his signature riffs, John shares the inspirations behind his timeless hits and the cost of being a voice of a generation. Reading it feels like listening to a classic CCR album; every page resonates with the spirit of a man who rode the river of rock ‘n’ roll, weathering its storms to emerge, perhaps battered, but unbowed.

33. John Lennon – The Life

“ John Lennon – The Life ” pulls you into the whirlwind world of the Beatle who dared to imagine, exploring the depths of his genius, his flaws, and the contradictions that made him a legend. It’s like wandering through a gallery of Lennon’s mind, where each chapter is a different exhibit, revealing the layers behind the icon—his music, activism, and the personal battles that fueled his art.

With intimate anecdotes and insights, the book feels less like a biography and more like a long, revealing conversation with Lennon himself, set against the backdrop of a changing world. Reading it is a trip through the life of a man whose vision and voice continue to echo, challenging us to dream and think deeper.

34. Johnny Cash – Cash

“Johnny Cash – Cash ” is a deep dive into the Man in Black’s life, told with the raw honesty and gritty charm that defined his music. It’s like sitting across from Cash himself, in a dimly lit room, as he recounts the epic tales of his journey through fame, heartbreak, redemption, and the undying love for June.

With each page, you’re taken on a ride through the highs and lows, from the wild tours to the quiet moments of reflection, all underscored by his deep, resonant voice. Reading it feels like listening to one of his classic albums—each story a track that weaves the complex tapestry of a legend’s life, leaving you feeling like you’ve truly walked the line with Johnny Cash .

35. John Oates – Change of Seasons

Let’s continue our list of books about musicians with “John Oates – Change of Seasons “. This is a rhythmic journey through the life of one half of the iconic Hall & Oates duo, blending the soulful beats of music with the personal ebbs and flows of his life. It’s like sitting down with Oates in a cozy, dimly lit music room, as he shares the stories behind the hits, the tours, and the partnership that defined an era.

With each turn of the page, you’re treated to an intimate backstage pass to his triumphs, challenges, and the moments of clarity that shaped him. Reading it feels like strumming through a heartfelt melody of life, love, and the constant evolution of an artist who’s seen it all, yet remains open to the ever-changing seasons of life.

36. Keith Richards – Life

“Keith Richards – Life ” takes you on a wild ride with the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist, through the smoke-filled rooms of rock ‘n’ roll history. It’s like being on the ultimate backstage tour, where Richards, with his trademark candor and wit, shares the stories of the Stones’ meteoric rise, the mayhem, and the music that defined a generation.

The book is a no-holds-barred account of life in one of the world’s greatest bands, complete with battles, brotherhood, and a lot of guitar strings. Reading it feels like jamming with Richards late into the night, every chord and confession revealing the heart and soul of rock’s most infamous survivor.

37. Kurt Cobain – Heavier than Heaven

“Kurt Cobain – Heavier Than Heaven ” plunges into the turbulent waters of the Nirvana frontman’s life, capturing the raw intensity and haunting beauty of Cobain’s world. It’s like a backstage pass to the soul of the 90s grunge movement, offering a glimpse into Kurt’s creative genius and the demons that danced in the shadows.

Through a mix of personal anecdotes and vivid storytelling, the book paints a portrait of a man whose music echoed the angst and hopes of a generation. Reading it feels like flipping through a deeply personal album, each chapter a song that reveals more of the complex, passionate spirit of Kurt Cobain , leaving you feeling closer to the legend who burned too bright.

38. Lemmy Kilminster – White Line Fever

“Lemmy Kilminster – White Line Fever ” is an electrifying charge down the fast lane of the Motörhead frontman’s life, packed with the raw energy and unapologetic truth that defined Lemmy. It’s like sitting at the bar with the man himself, whisky in hand, as he recounts the wild ride of rock ‘n’ roll excess, groundbreaking music, and the relentless pursuit of freedom.

With a voice that’s as gritty and relentless as his bass lines, Lemmy shares tales of life on the edge, the creation of anthems that would define a genre, and the unyielding spirit of a true rock legend. Reading this musician book feels like catching lightning in a bottle, a rare glimpse into the eye of the storm that was Lemmy’s life, leaving you with a buzz that’s hard to shake.

39. Les Paul – In His Own Words

“ Les Paul – In His Own Words ” strings you along on a melodious journey through the life of the legendary inventor and musician who changed the sound of music forever. It’s like sitting down in Les Paul’s workshop, surrounded by wires and wood, as he narrates the story of his innovations and the music that inspired them.

With each page, you’re treated to intimate tales of the birth of the electric guitar, the evolution of recording technology, and the jam sessions that sparked a revolution in sound. Reading it feels like listening to a living history of music, told by the man whose passion and genius plugged the guitar into the future, making it sing in ways it never had before. In terms of music biographies, this is a must read.

40. Lita Ford – Living Like a Runaway

“ Lita Ford – Living Like a Runaway” is a high-octane trip through the life of the queen of metal, packed with the same fiery spirit and razor-sharp riffs that catapulted her to stardom. It’s like sitting shotgun in a muscle car with Lita at the wheel, tearing down the highway of rock ‘n’ roll history.

She spills the tea on her groundbreaking journey in a male-dominated scene, the wild tours, the battles, and the music that blazed a trail for female rockers. Reading it feels like an all-access pass to the backstage dramas and triumphs, all delivered with Lita’s signature blend of toughness and heart, proving she’s not just any runaway, but rock royalty.

41. Marilyn Manson – The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

“Marilyn Manson – The Long Hard Road Out of Hell ” drags you through the twisted, dark corridors of the shock rock icon’s rise to infamy, wrapped in a cloak of controversy and rebellion. It’s like delving into a macabre circus, where each chapter unveils another layer of Manson’s meticulously crafted persona and the chaotic world that fueled his art.

Through tales of excess, transformation, and defiance, Manson bares his soul, revealing the man behind the makeup. Reading it feels like a fever dream, a provocative journey through the highs and lows of a life lived defiantly outside the lines, challenging norms and sparking fires of discussion wherever it goes.

42. Max Cavalera – My Bloody Roots

“Max Cavalera – My Bloody Roots ” thunders through the life of the metal titan, from the raw streets of Brazil to the global stages of Sepultura and Soulfly fame. It’s like a mosh pit of memories, where each chapter slams into you with the intensity of a thrash riff, sharing the struggles, the fights, and the unbreakable spirit of a man who refused to let anything silence his music.

Max opens up about the fusion of sounds that define his style, the personal losses that have shaped him, and the rebellious energy that fuels his songs. Reading it feels like hanging out backstage with Cavalera himself, sharing stories that are as brutally honest as they are inspiring, all delivered with the passion of someone who lives and breathes metal.

43. Muddy Waters – Can’t Be Satisfied

Next up in our list of books about musicians is “Muddy Waters – Can’t Be Satisfied “. This book dives deep into the muddy waters of the blues legend’s life, charting his journey from the cotton fields of Mississippi to the electric buzz of Chicago’s blues scene. It’s like sitting on a porch in the deep south, guitar in hand, as Waters’s story unfolds with the gritty realism of a life lived in the pursuit of musical truth.

Through tales of hardship, innovation, and the birth of electric blues, this book paints a portrait of a man whose guitar strings pulled the heartstrings of a generation. Reading it feels like listening to a blues riff that’s as raw and real as the life from which it sprang, echoing the soulful, unyielding spirit of Muddy Waters himself.

44. Neil Young – Waging Heavy Peace

“Neil Young – Waging Heavy Peace ” is an introspective journey through the life of the rock icon, offering a unique glimpse into the mind of a man known for his enigmatic music and relentless creativity. It’s like sitting by a crackling fire with Young as he recounts tales from his sprawling career, from the dizzying heights of fame to the quiet moments that fuel his artistry.

With a mix of reflection, humor, and sincerity, Neil shares his passions, from music to model trains to his ventures into high-fidelity audio. Reading it feels like flipping through a personal scrapbook, each page a snapshot of a life lived with intensity, integrity, and a deep love for the muse that drives him.

45. Nikki Sixx – Heroin Diaries

“Nikki Sixx – Heroin Diaries ” plunges into the dark heart of the Mötley Crüe bassist’s battle with addiction, set against the backdrop of rock ‘n’ roll excess. It’s like walking through a haunted house, where each room reveals more of the harrowing, yet strangely captivating, depths of Sixx’s year-long descent into drug-fueled madness.

With brutal honesty and startling clarity, Sixx shares diary entries that paint a vivid picture of a life on the edge, teetering between destruction and creativity. Reading it feels like listening to a confession, raw and unfiltered, that’s as much a cautionary tale as it is a testament to the power of survival and redemption.

46. Ozzy Osbourne – I Am Ozzy

What list of the best musician biographies would be complete without” I Am Ozzy “? This is the uproarious, no-holds-barred autobiography of Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness himself, chronicling his journey from humble beginnings to the summit of heavy metal royalty. It’s like sitting down with Ozzy at a pub, as he regales you with tales of legendary excess, on-stage antics, and the tumultuous life of a rock icon.

With his unmistakable wit and candor, Osbourne recounts the dizzying highs and devastating lows of his career, all while maintaining a sense of humor about the madness that has been his life. The book feels like riding a roller coaster in the dark, thrilling and unpredictable, echoing the wild, unforgettable ride that is Ozzy’s life.

47. Paul McCartney – Many Years From Now

“ Paul McCartney – Many Years From Now ” offers a vivid, melody-filled stroll down memory lane, guided by Sir Paul McCartney himself, spotlighting his Beatles years and beyond. Throughout the book, McCartney shares personal stories behind the songs, the brotherhood, the laughter, and the tears of the Fab Four’s journey.

With intimate insights and charming anecdotes, McCartney paints a portrait of a time that reshaped music forever, all told with the warmth and wit only he could provide. Reading it feels like uncovering a treasure trove of musical history, making you a confidant in the legacy of a legend whose tunes have echoed through many years and still captivate hearts worldwide.

48. Prince – Dig If You Will the Picture

Let’s continue our list of books on musicians with “Prince – Dig You Will the Picture “. This book immerses you in the enigmatic world of Prince, exploring the depth and breadth of his musical genius and the impact he left on the world. It’s like wandering through a vibrant, sonic landscape painted with the hues of funk, rock, R&B, and soul, all blending together under the guiding hand of the Purple One.

Through a mosaic of interviews, analyses, and reflections, the book offers a glimpse into Prince’s creative process, his innovations, and the iconic moments that defined his career. Reading it feels like being invited into the exclusive, eclectic universe of Prince, where every page pulses with the rhythm of his life and the echoes of his legacy.

49. Randy Rhoads – Crazy Train

What list of the best music biographies would be complete without “Randy Rhoads – Crazy Train “? This book takes you on a high-speed journey through the life of the guitar prodigy who redefined heavy metal riffing. It’s like being plugged directly into Rhoads’s amp, feeling the energy and passion that fueled his legendary performances with Ozzy Osbourne.

Through intimate recollections and detailed accounts, the book explores Randy’s meteoric rise, his devotion to music, and the tragic crash that ended his life too soon. Reading it feels like a backstage pass to the 80s rock scene, offering a heartfelt tribute to a musician whose legacy continues to electrify guitar enthusiasts around the world.

50. Robbie Robertson – Testimony

“Robbie Robertson – Testimony ” weaves a rich tapestry of the music scene from the golden age of rock, through the eyes and guitar of The Band’s legendary guitarist. It’s like sitting down in a dimly lit room with Robertson as he recounts the journey from backing Bob Dylan to becoming rock royalty themselves.

With vivid storytelling, he shares the camaraderie, the tours, and the behind-the-scenes moments that shaped some of the most iconic music of the era. Reading it feels like flipping through a photo album of rock history, each chapter a snapshot that captures the spirit, the struggles, and the magic of a time when music was a powerful force for change.

51. Robert Johnson – Escaping the Delta

We’ll continue our list of books on musicians with the incrediblee “Robert Johnson – Escaping the Delta “. This book unveils the mystique of the blues legend whose guitar prowess sparked rumors of a deal with the devil. It’s like stepping into a crossroads at midnight, where each turn of the page sheds light on Johnson’s life, the myths that shrouded his legacy, and the profound impact he had on music history.

The book delves deep into the heart of the Delta blues, revealing how Johnson’s innovative style and haunting lyrics echoed far beyond the cotton fields, influencing generations of musicians. Reading it feels like uncovering a secret chapter of music history, offering a closer look at the man behind the myth, whose chords and cries continue to resonate through the annals of American music.

52. Sammy Hagar – Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock

“Sammy Hagar – Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock ” blasts through the life of the Red Rocker with the speed and power of a muscle car, capturing the essence of a rock ‘n’ roll journey like no other. It’s like kicking back with Hagar himself, tequila in hand, as he shares the wild stories of his rise from humble beginnings to his days with Van Halen and beyond.

With unflinching honesty and a sense of humor, Sammy recounts the highs, the lows, and everything in-between, including the epic parties and personal battles. Reading it feels like being on tour with a rock legend, offering an all-access pass to the backstage, on-stage, and off-stage antics that define the life of a man who’s lived every moment at full throttle. One of the best musician autobiographies in this list!

53. Scott Ian – I’m The Man: The Story of That Guy From Anthrax

“ I’m The Man: The Story of That Guy From Anthrax ” cranks up the volume on Scott Ian’s life, offering a no-holds-barred look at the rhythm guitarist’s journey through the thrash metal scene. It’s like grabbing a beer with Ian as he recounts the wild ride of Anthrax, from its foundation to becoming one of the “Big Four” of thrash metal, peppered with anecdotes of mayhem, music, and mosh pits.

With a candid voice and a sharp sense of humor, Ian shares the ups and downs, the backstage stories, and the passion for music that kept him thrashing on the guitar strings. Reading it feels like a whirlwind trip through the metal scene of the ’80s and ’90s, full of headbanging moments, laughter, and a deep, unabashed love for heavy metal.

54. Slash – The Autobiography

“ Slash ” slices through the life of the iconic Guns N’ Roses guitarist, delivering raw, unfiltered stories from the man beneath the top hat. It’s like being invited to an after-hours jam session, where Slash lays down the riff of his life, from the dizzying highs of rock stardom to the shadowy lows of addiction and recovery.

With every page, Slash’s voice cuts through like a solo, sharing the tumult and triumphs of a life lived on the edge of a guitar pick. Reading it feels like a backstage pass into the heart of rock ‘n’ roll, gritty, real, and louder than life, offering a glimpse of the man who became a legend, one chord at a time.

55. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Caught in the Crossfire

Another of the best music biographies is “Stevie Ray Vaughan – Caught in the Crossfire “. This book dives into the whirlwind life of the guitar legend, Stevie Ray Vaughan, with a narrative as electrifying as one of his solos. The book paints a vivid picture of Vaughan’s rise from a kid with big dreams in Dallas to becoming a rock and blues icon, admired by millions.

It doesn’t shy away from the darker chapters of his journey, including his battles with addiction and his tragic, untimely death. Through interviews and personal anecdotes, it’s a heartfelt tribute to Vaughan’s genius, capturing the spirit of a man who lived at full throttle, both on stage and off.

56. Tom Petty – The Biography

Diving into “ Tom Petty – The Biography ,” you’re hitching a ride on the wild journey of one of rock’s most beloved figures. This book cracks open the vault on Petty’s life, from his roots in Gainesville, Florida, to the zenith of rock stardom, revealing the heartbreaks and triumphs along the way.

It’s a no-holds-barred exploration of his musical genius, personal struggles, and the unbreakable spirit that defined his career. Through intimate stories and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, it feels like you’re on the road with Petty himself, sharing in the laughter, the tears, and the unforgettable music.

57. Tony Iommi – Iron Man

“Tony Iommi – Iron Man ” rips through the life of Black Sabbath’s legendary guitarist, Tony Iommi, with the same intensity as his iconic riffs. This book takes you on a headbanging journey from Iommi’s early days in Birmingham, England, through the highs and lows of rock stardom, to becoming a metal god.

It doesn’t just stick to the music; this musician biography dives deep into Iommi’s personal battles, including his fight to play guitar after a factory accident almost ended his career. Packed with wild stories, profound insights, and a dash of humor, get the inside scoop on what made Sabbath’s sound immortal.

58. Willie Nelson – It’s a Long Story

“Willie Nelson – It’s a Long Story ” takes you on a leisurely stroll down the winding roads of Willie Nelson’s life, with the man himself as your guide. From his early days in Texas through the wild twists of country music fame, Nelson’s tale is a rich tapestry of songs, smoke, and soul-searching.

The book is peppered with tales of Nelson’s encounters with music legends, his battles against the establishment, and his unwavering commitment to his craft and causes. Reading this musician biography feels like sitting on a porch with Willie, strumming a guitar under the stars, as he shares the wisdom and wild stories collected over decades of making music and making waves.

59. Yngwie Malmsteen – Relentless

Next in our list of musician memoirs is “Yngwie Malmsteen – Relentless “. This book shreds through the life story of the shred guitar virtuoso with the same ferocity he applies to his six-string. This musician autobiography gives you front-row seats to the rollercoaster ride of Malmsteen’s journey, from a rebellious kid in Sweden dreaming of rock glory to becoming a maestro of the neoclassical metal genre.

The book is packed with tales of rockstar excess, intense dedication to his art, and the relentless pursuit of musical perfection that’s as mind-blowing as his solos. Read through his triumphs, trials, and the relentless drive that propelled him to the pantheon of guitar gods.

60. Zakk Wylde – Bringing Metal to the Children

The final entry in our list of books about musicians is “Zakk Wylde – Bringing Metal to the Children “. This is a wild ride through the rock n’ roll circus as seen through the eyes of guitar legend Zakk Wylde. This book isn’t just a memoir; it’s a backstage pass to the mayhem, madness, and sheer metal insanity that comes with life on the road in the world of heavy music.

Wylde dishes out hilarious tales, hard-earned wisdom, and a few lessons on what it really takes to bring the metal to the masses. Join Zakk as he recounts the epic journey of a life lived loud and proud in the service of heavy metal.

Musician Biographies Missing?

Hopefully you’ve managed to find several awesome musician biographies in this article that you fancy reading yourself.

However, if you feel that I’ve missed out any essential books about musicians, please drop me an email. You’ll find a link to my contact form in the footer below.

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30 Great Rock Memoirs

Many legendary musicians have taken literary guitar solos off-stage by penning great rock memoirs. Music fans adore delving into their favorite artists’ juicy, tell-all autobiographies. Rock memoirs allow average Joes to experience the scandalous debauchery of the rock and roll lifestyle. From hit records and red carpets to drug addiction and sleazy groupies, these memoirs take readers on the rollercoaster ride of stardom. Whether written in 1960 or today, rock memoirs capture the drama of music heroes journeying towards their big dreams.

However, rock memoirs aren’t always the fascinating, soul-baring reads you’d expect. The genre has plenty of autobiographies filled with fluff already well-known on the Internet. Rock memoirs can also become garbled, indecipherable accounts by musicians who are more accustomed to writing notes than paragraphs. The best memoirs avoid the usual road-worn clichés and plots to eloquently share unhindered truths about rock stars.

Below we’ll recognize 30 great rock memoirs that deserve a sacred space on your bookshelf or Kindle library.

#1 – I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir

Brian wilson.

Releasing in October 2016, this much-anticipated memoir tells the story of Brian Wilson, the co-founder of the Beach Boys. Starting with his turbulent childhood with an abusive father, Wilson relays the mental illness, drugs, and sorrow that plagued his early life. He also offers glimpses into the songwriting process for hits like “Good Vibrations.” Readers witness his never-ending climb to survive the industry and remain one of music’s most revered figures.

#2 – Walk This Way

Divided in two,  Walk This Way  chronicles the history of the legendary hard rock band Aerosmith. Members Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, and Brad Whitford take turns sharing recollections never publicly released. Book One focuses on the early years after their album  Toys in the Attic  debuted. Book Two takes place after their 1980s downfall and resurgence. Candid stories of concerts, drugs, partying, and women abound.

#3 – The Dirt

Motley crue.

Perhaps the world’s most notorious rock band, Motley Crue collaborated to publish  The Dirt  in 2001. Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, and Nikki Sixx detail their 30-year career without holding back. Fans journey beyond their immortal music to learn about backstage scandals, love affairs, and addictions after their rise to fame. Over 100 photographs are included to depict the pleasures and perils of decadent rock star lifestyles.

#4 – Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir

Carrie brownstein.

Named a  New York Times  Notable Book of 2015, Carrie Brownstein’s novel allows a deeply personal look into how she redefined gender limitations in rock. From her childhood in the Pacific Northwest, Brownstein depicts the search for her true calling. The exuberant guitarist details her rise to prominence with Sleater-Kinney in the growing feminist punk rock movement. She also shares the experiences that spawned the TV hit  Portlandia.

#5 – Born to Run

Bruce springsteen.

After his Super Bowl halftime show, “The Boss” himself began writing an extraordinary autobiography detailing his life from a childhood in Freehold, New Jersey. Set for release in September 2016,  Born to Run  vividly recounts Springsteen’s relentless drive for music. Readers watch as his career progresses from playing bar bands to headlining the E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen details the light and darkness of his experiences with raw honesty.

#6 – Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness

Ronnie spector.

Ronnie Spector published this 384-page tell-all novel about her time as lead singer for the Ronettes, the hit 1960s “girl band.” Although there are glimpses into the glamour of rock stardom, much of the memoir centers on her rocky relationship with Phil Spector. She details how her powerful producer husband turned cruel and reclusive. Follow her inspiring battle to break free, overcome alcoholism, and recreate a life worth living.

#7 – Crazy From The Heat

David lee roth.

Van Halen lead vocalist David Lee Roth produced the ultimate rock memoir with  Crazy From The Heat  in 1998. The archetypal rock star shares his life’s narrative in guerrilla style with plenty of expletives. With candor, Roth depicts the backstage life for the Guinness Book’s highest paid American rock group of the ’80s. David Lee Roth also shares his recording experiences as a solo artist and several unpublished poems.

#8 – Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, wrote this unique rock memoir about his time with the ’70s punk band. The “God Save the Queen” singer depicts how the Pistols were working-class rockers with families, friends, and financial woes. Lydon is unabashedly spiteful in shedding light on the British class system and the music industry. John Lydon also adds perspectives on his band mates, including the notorious Sid Vicious.

#9 – Long Hard Road Out of Hell

Marilyn manson.

America’s most controversial rock idol Marilyn Manson published a shocking memoir titled  Long Hard Road Out of Hell.  Born as Brian Hugh Warner, Manson discusses his unstable childhood, including his grandfather’s sexual fetishes. Its pages go in-depth on how the Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids formed and recorded the infamous “Antichrist Superstar.” Like other rock memoirs, the book references bitter breakups and dysfunctional relationships.

#10 – Many Years From Now

Paul mccartney.

With author Barry Miles, Paul McCartney wrote  Many Years From Now  to disprove that the late John Lennon was the Beatles’ only creative leader. The 650-plus memoir centers on the duo’s 50-50 songwriting partnership through hits like “I Feel Fine” and “A Hard Day’s Night.” From Beatlemania on, McCartney reminiscences on the genesis for every song penned with Lennon while taking credit for the band’s immersion into the avant-garde.

#11 – Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust

David bowie.

David Bowie’s debut novel gives unprecedented insight into his intriguing, sexually ambivalent stage persona Ziggy Stardust. Photographer Mick Rock assists in chronicling imagery from Ziggy’s stratospheric two-year stardom. Vast albums of images compile to detail the onstage performances and backstage scandals through his blockbuster retirement. It’s among the finest rock memoirs that beautifully immortalizes the late icon in high-definition.

#12 – Chronicles: Volume One

Through his own eyes,  Chronicles: Volume One  details the critical crossroads in Bob Dylan’s early life to begin the planned three-volume memoir. The National Book Critics Circle Award finalist shows Dylan’s first arrival in magical Manhattan. The story poignantly shares details about his 1960s breakthrough album. From nightlong parties to fleeting loves, readers witness Bob Dylan’s rise into fame as the “spokesman of a generation.”

Johnny Cash

Having sold over 90 million records globally, Johnny Cash is deemed one of the most influential musicians for songs like “Ring of Fire” and “Man in Black.” Cash’s deep baritone voice crossed lines from country and blues to rock and roll. From his boyhood in Arkansas to super-stardom in Nashville,  Cash  reminiscences on the legend’s lifetime. The autobiography highlights his 40-year career, including his marriage to June Carter, with wry humor.

#14 – Scar Tissue

Anthony kiedis.

Released five years after  Californication,  this rock memoir follows the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ lead vocalist through his drug addiction battle. Son of Blackie Dammett, Anthony Kiedis first experienced drugs with his father at 11. When the band formed in the ’80s, Kiedis had a hardcore addiction. He details the effect of Slovak’s overdose death on his downward spiral. Audiences witness his fight against relapses to restart a productive, happy life.

#15 – Just Kids

Patti smith.

Chosen for  Publishers Weekly’s  top 10 best books, Patti Smith’s memoir provides the same lyrical quality as her influential album  Horses.  Beginning in 1967, the book portrays Smith’s early career homeless and hungry in Brooklyn. That’s when she encounters Robert Mapplethorpe, a young photographer, and her life forever changes. Patti Smith tells their inseparable friendship’s moving story during the halcyon days of the Hotel Chelsea.

#16 – My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor

Keith morris.

Hardcore punk icon Keith Morris chronicles his revolutionary 40-year career as one of music’s hardest working men. Beginning with his childhood in Los Angeles’ South Bay, the book provides a lens into Morris’ development to legend status. From leading the Circle Jerks to appearing in cult films like  Repo Man,  Keith Morris shares interesting perspectives on the entertainment industry and his battle with diabetes.

#17 – The Beatles Anthology

The beatles.

Released with the documentary series in 2000,  The Beatles Anthology  is a large-format hardcover book infused with photographic artwork. Archived interviews with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as well as producer George Martin are combined into one epic rock memoir. Every page is brimming with recollections from their early days in Liverpool to their ultimate breakup, including Lennon’s marriage to Yoko Ono.

#18 – I, Tina

Tina turner.

Adapted to the film  What’s Love Got to Do with It  with Angela Bassett in 1993, Tina Turner’s rock memoir retells her life from growing up as Anna Mae Bullock. The best-seller transports readers from her meager beginnings in Tennessee to her volatile relationship with blues musician Ike Turner. Her superstar account shares the pain and abuse that sparked one of rock music’s greatest comebacks.

#19 – Slash

Legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash opens up to share his own experiences with the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle. The notoriously private musician pens a jaw-dropping memoir detailing the factors leading to the band’s demise. Beyond wild parties, groupies, drugs, and never-ending tours, Slash depicts the dictatorship rule of Axl Rose. He explains how Axl’s determination to change the band’s sound with synthesizers ripped them apart.

#20 – I Am Ozzy

Ozzy osbourne.

Prized for its laugh-out-loud humor,  I Am Ozzy  provides a rambling memoir of the Black Sabbath frontman’s life. Born John Osbourne, he grew up within an impoverished British family in Aston and seemed destined for manual labor. On a trip to prison, Ozzy became enamored with the darker side of rock and roll. Life spirals out of control with recording, drinking, drugs, and women. But the unpolished autobiography then shares the satanic rocker’s rebirth.

#21 – Clapton

Eric clapton.

Clapton  portrays the rock star’s life in an unseen light starting with his debut in Cream and their untimely breakup two years later. Eric Clapton shares his experiences working with Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and long-time friend George Harrison. Here readers discover his love for George’s wife, Pattie Boyd. His heartbreak leads to heroin, despair, and hit songs like “Wonderful Tonight.” Life seemingly improves as he wins Pattie’s affection, until the devastating death of their four-year-old son.

#22 – Amy, My Daughter

Mitch winehouse.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse’s memoir was written in 2013 by her closest advisor and friend, her father Mitch. The intimate account separates fact from fiction by detailing the true events that shaped her music career. Mitch doesn’t shy away from discussing her drug addiction that inspired the hit song “Rehab.” Audiences witness what happened behind-the-scenes in the months leading to the talented musician’s tragic death.

#23 – I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp

Richard hell.

Since retiring from the music industry in 1984, Richard Hell has published countless books, including his own rock memoirs. This novel renders his shift from a bucolic childhood in Kentucky to New York City’s punk rock movement. Known for co-founding bands like The Heartbreakers and working with artists like Patti Smith, Hell forever cemented CBGB as the epicenter for punk. The memoir celebrates his passion while warning of its implicit risks.

#24 – Journals

Kurt cobain.

Originally contained in over 20 notebooks,  Journals  presents a collection of Kurt Cobain’s handwritten notes and drawings. From a kid in Aberdeen, Washington, to a morbid punk rocker, the entries depict Corbain’s unlikely rise to fame. Readers glimpse his innermost thoughts as Cobain signs with Sub Pop, forms Nirvana, and writes “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But entries turn darker as coping with the fame ultimately leads to heroin addiction and suicide.

#25 – Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout

Laura jane grace.

Laura Jane Grace, the lead singer for Against Me!, will offer this vivid memoir of her tumultuous search for self-identity in November 2016. Born Thomas James Gabel, Laura shares how she grappled with feeling detached from her body.  Tranny  shares her struggles with gender transition, sex, failed relationships, and drug addiction while becoming a punk rock icon.

Keith Richards

As winner of the 2011 Norman Mailer Prize, Keith Richards’ memoir  Life  was written with journalist James Fox to chronicle the Rolling Stones guitarist’s rousing stardom. Richards delivers an unfettered story of his career from small gigs to sold-out stadiums. Rock fans are entranced with firsthand accounts on his love for Patti Hansen, rocky relationship with Mick Jagger, tax exile in France, and more. His journey becomes immortalized like the riffs of “Satisfaction.”

#27 – The Autobiography

Chuck berry.

Pioneering rock and roll guitarist Chuck Berry’s memoir not only shares his own past, but also uncovers dark truths about race in America. Growing up in a poor, segregated St. Louis neighborhood, Berry discusses his family roots and his feeling “black.” From performing with Johnnie Johnson’s trio to signing with Chess Records, he recounts his galloping success redefining rhythm and blues to the distinctive rock sound.  The Autobiography  also includes a discography of his musical masterpieces.

#28 – Don’t Try This at Home: A Year in the Life of Dave Navarro

Dave navarro.

After messy breakups with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction, guitarist Dave Navarro partnered with writer Neil Strauss to chronicle 12 months of his life. He purchased a photo booth to record every celebrity, dealer, and hooker who stopped by his house. The resulting 57 chapters speak to the quasi-glamorous rock and roll lifestyle. However, readers eventually witness Navarro’s sobriety as his career and marriage restarts.

#29 – Girl in a Band

Published in 2015,  Girl in a Band  shares the autobiographical story of Sonic Youth’s bass guitarist and fashion icon Kim Gordon. The memoir’s vivid pages open several chapters of her life for inspection from California to New York City. She visually details her music and passion for taking women into the unchartered territory in the Alternative revolution. Gordon also describes her personal life, marriage, and relationship with her daughter, Coco.

#30 – Take It Like a Man

Boy George strutted into rock stardom in the early ’80s with “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” His platinum Culture Club hits, avant-garde style, and captivating melodies fueled media’s obsession with the English singer. That’s until his life took a downward spiral. Boy George’s relationship with Jon Moss disintegrated, Culture Club collapsed, and drug addiction wreaked havoc.  Take It Like a Man  retells his highest highs and most desperate lows in mesmerizing detail.

Search for these 30 great rock memoirs to read profound, inspiring recollections from one-of-a-kind music icons who’ve experienced successes and downturns in the public eye.

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As the Queen biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ proved, the best music biopics can have a cultural impact that goes far beyond devoted fans. Here are 30 must-sees.

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Technology may have impacted on the way we consume music in the 21st Century, but our love of the cinema remains undiminished. Indeed, as global smashes such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Judy, and Straight Outta Compton have shown, the best music biopics can account for some of the biggest draws in the movies. So grab some popcorn, dim the lights, and enjoy our list of the 30 best music biopics to grace screens both big and small. If we’ve missed any of your favorites, let us know in the comments section.

30: Jersey Boys

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Jersey Boys is adapted from the Tony Award-winning stage musical of the same name, which first debuted in 2005. In both cases, the subject is the story of New Jersey rock and pop troupe The Four Seasons, with original members Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio serving as executive producers, and Gaudio composing the film’s music. The biopic was advertised as the story of four kids “from the wrong side of the tracks”, and thus drugs, excess, and The Four Seasons’ regular run-ins with mobsters are all part and parcel of one of 2014’s most memorable films.

29: Miles Ahead

First released in 2017, Miles Ahead was something of a labor of love for Don Cheadle, who co-wrote the script, and co-produced and made his directorial debut with the movie, not to mention while also playing the lead, the colossal jazz legend Miles Davis . Cheadle’s herculean efforts failed to win over some of the critics, but he did a great job capturing Davis’, attitude, drug-fuelled paranoia, and even his famous death-ray stare in this compelling and passionate biopic.

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28: Nowhere Boy

First released in the UK in 2009 and then granted a US cinema release to coincide with what should have been John Lennon ’s 70th birthday, on 9 October 2010, Nowhere Boy revisits the future Beatle’s early years in Liverpool, taking in the creation of his first band, The Quarrymen, and their gradual transition into The Beatles . Unlike Ian Hart in Backbeat , Aaron Taylor-Johnson bears little physical resemblance to the young Lennon, but he captures the wit of the adolescent future Beatle. There’s a strong supporting cast, too, with Anne Marie-Duff playing Lennon’s mother, Julia, and Kristin Scott-Thomas attempting to instill discipline as John’s stern yet dependable Aunt Mimi.

27: Get On Up

Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic, Get On Up , is a rollercoaster ride for the viewer as the action jumps around from the 80s to the 60s and the 30s, connecting events through thematic links rather than chronology. If you can keep up, however, there’s plenty to savor here, not least because Chadwick Boseman puts in a superlative performance in the lead role, capturing Brown’s strutting, fireproof confidence in all its glory. Curiously, Get On Up struggled at the box office in 2014, but it’s a critical favorite (renowned US critic Robert Christgau wrote, “It’s great – better than The Help , which I quite admire, and Ray , which I love”) that’s well worth rediscovering.

26: Great Balls Of Fire!

Jerry Lee Lewis’ reputation as one of rock’n’roll’s greatest hellraisers will always precede him. However, Jim McBride’s 1989 biopic leans more towards the positive, concentrating on The Killer’s irresistible rise to rock’n’roll stardom, which may have seen him overtake Elvis Presley if it hadn’t been for his controversial marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, whose biography the film is partially based upon. Great Balls Of Fire! has its critics, but Alec Baldwin plays Jerry Lee’s infamous pastor cousin, Jimmy Swaggart, with aplomb, and Dennis Quaid – whose performance was praised by Lewis himself – is superb in the lead role.

25: The Doors

The Doors should perhaps simply have been titled The Jim Morrison Movie , as director Oliver Stone ( Midnight Express , Wall Street , Natural Born Killers ) homes in almost exclusively on the life and times of the band’s iconic frontman, often pushing the contributions of his bandmates off into the sidelines in this big-budget biopic from 1991. However, while hardcore fans, and The Doors themselves, voiced their disapproval, the critics disagreed, with Rolling Stone awarding it four stars. In retrospect, it’s fair to say Stone took some hefty liberties with the real story, but for all that, Val Kilmer is hypnotic as Morrison, and if you can overlook the more hackneyed Hollywood clichés, The Doors is well worth searching out.

24: 24 Hour Party People

Director Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People follows the seismic – and sometimes surreal – career arc of Factory Records boss Tony Wilson through the decades. It takes in his work with Joy Division, including the memorable scene where Wilson (his dry-witted persona captured beautifully by Steve Coogan) inks their recording contract in his own blood, through to the opening of the iconic – if bank-breaking – Haçienda nightclub. Fiction sometimes makes a mockery of fact (though there is real-life footage of Sex Pistols ’ legendary gig at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall), but it’s still an enthusiastic and heartfelt tribute to both the late 80s Madchester era and one of the UK’s most singular independent record labels .

23: The Runaways

Based on lead singer Cherie Currie’s book, Neon Angel: A Memoir Of A Runaway , this self-explanatory 2010 biopic covers the rise and fall of groundbreaking all-girl 70s rock sensations The Runaways. Primarily centering around the relationship between the band’s two prime movers, Currie (played by Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart), but with Michael Shannon also doing a sterling job as their Svengali-esque manager/producer, Kim Fowley, The Runaways offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight. Jett herself told Interview magazine that the film perfectly captured “the glam and intensity” of Los Angeles in the mid-70s.

22: Love & Mercy

Director Bill Pohlad and writers Michael Alan Lerner and Oren Moverman cast The Beach Boys ’ Brian Wilson in an honest light in 2015’s Love & Mercy . The iconic singer-songwriter’s story is tailor-made for cinema, with Love & Mercy homing in on the pivotal mid-60s period during which the group created their masterpiece, Pet Sounds , and the struggles Wilson subsequently faced. Actors Paul Dano and John Cusack weigh in with astonishing dual performances as Wilson, in different stages of his career, and further kudos should be doled out for the film’s painstaking recreation of The Beach Boys’ recording methods.

You could argue that 8 Mile isn’t truly a biopic, as Eminem ’s Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith is a fictional character. However, you could just as easily feel it deserves a high ranking on any self-respecting list of the best music biopics for providing genuine insight into Detroit’s millennial hip-hop scene through the superstar rapper’s early career in the city. Further lifted by Eminem’s passionate and ultra-frank performance, 8 Mile significantly raised hip-hop’s global profile and, thanks to its Oscar-winning spin-off hit, “Lose Yourself,” it not only recouped its expensive budget ($40 million), but generated whopping box office receipts believed to have topped $240 million.

20: Backbeat

Director Iain Softley’s Backbeat (1994) delved into The Beatles’ pre-fame Hamburg era, when The Fab Four were The Fab Five with the ill-starred Stu Sutcliffe on bass. The Beatles’ songs were re-recorded for the film by an all-star alt.rock outfit including Dave Grohl , R.E.M. ’s Mike Mills, and Sonic Youth ’s Thurston Moore, while the script concentrated on the close friendship between Sutcliffe and John Lennon, played convincingly by Stephen Dorff and Ian Hart, respectively. Backbeat has since been praised by insiders including Julian Lennon and Pete Best, and it was adapted into a successful theatrical production in 2010.

1997’s Selena is the story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, who transitions from precocious child talent to fast-rising pop star in both the US and her native Mexico, only to be murdered by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club, when she was just 23. In itself, it’s a sensational storyline, though the biopic’s appeal may have remained at cult level had Jennifer Lopez not been cast in the starring role. In fairness, J-Lo plays the part to perfection, earning earned widespread praise and a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of the singer. Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr, meanwhile, served as producer and consultant to ensure the film avoided the worst Hollywood excesses.

18: Bound For Glory

Loosely adapted from his partly fictionalized 1943 autobiography of the same name, Bound For Glory is a beautifully framed portrait of the enigmatic Woody Guthrie. Luxuriously shot by director Hal Ashby, it features David Carradine in the lead role and follows the pioneering folk star on his Grapes Of Wrath -esque migration from his Dust Bowl Oklahoma home to the promised land of California during the height of the Great Depression. Carradine puts in a compelling performance as Guthrie, and may well have secured an Oscar had Bound For Glory not been up against the likes of All The President’s Men , Rocky, and Taxi Driver in 1976.

17: La Bamba

His tragic death alongside Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 , inevitably overshadowed Richie Valens’ life prior to La Bamba . However, Luis Valdez’ heartfelt 1987 portrayal of the charismatic, Mexico-born rock’n’roll trailblazer helped redress the balance. Lou Diamond Phillips is electric in the lead role, but while the film is broadly chronological, it isn’t a straight depiction of Valens’ life, as it delves into how Valens’ professional success impacted on the lives of his half-brother, Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig and the rest of his family. The film did brisk business on both sides of the Atlantic, with Los Lobos’ version of the titular song topping the US and UK charts.

Produced and directed by Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood, Bird (1988) stars Forest Whitaker as the brilliant but mercurial jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker . The stuff of legend, Parker’s storied life struggles included battles with drug addiction, the death of his child, and a heart attack before his own premature death, aged 34, by which time he’d long since joined jazz’s pantheon of greats. Constructed as a montage of scenes from Parker’s life, Bird is riveting and it later yielded a Best Director Golden Globe for Eastwood and a Cannes Film Festival Best Actor gong for Whitaker.

15: Sid & Nancy

Sid & Nancy , Alex Cox’s retelling of punk icon Sid Vicious’ doomed love affair with Nancy Spungen, polarised opinion from the off. Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon later savaged it in his autobiography – and he has a point, because (as Malcolm McLaren did with The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle ) the script takes major liberties with the band’s real story. Despite this – and the fact it was a financial failure upon release, in 1986 – Sid & Nancy has since been reappraised. Respected US critic Roger Ebert dubbed the late duo “punk rock’s Romeo and Juliet”, and the film’s leads, Gary Oldman ( Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , Darkest Hour ) and Chloe Webb turn in passionate, poignant performances which have set Sid & Nancy ’s reputation as a cult classic in stone.

14: I’m Not There

The collective brainchild of Love & Mercy ’s Oren Moverman and Velvet Goldmine director Todd Haynes, the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There (2007) is often as enigmatic as its influential subject. On paper, the premise – on-screen stars Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw, and the much-missed Heath Ledger portray Dylan at different stages in his life – would seem ambitious to say the least, yet Haynes weaves the narrative together beautifully and the cast all play a blinder, ensuring that I’m Not There is a Bob Dylan biopic that even the casual fan should watch.

13: Behind The Candelabra

Directed by Steven Soderbergh ( Sex, Lies, And Videotape , Erin Brockovich ), the Liberace biopic Behind The Candelabra (2013) was in production for the best part of a decade and was originally a made-for-TV movie. After hitting the silver screen, however, the film won several Emmys and a Golden Globe. Based on Liberace’s latter-day lover Scott Thorson’s memoir of the same name, it details the flamboyant pianist’s final decade, with both Michael Douglas (Liberace) and Matt Damon (Thorson) turning in terrific performances. Moving and salacious, it’s an absorbing biopic that even the vaguely curious should check out.

Several directors have attempted to capture Elvis Presley ’s mercurial life since his premature death, in 1977, but John Carpenter’s made-for-TV Elvis (1979) remains the benchmark. The then little-known Kurt Russell received an Emmy nomination for his memorable portrayal of The King, capturing his brooding charisma without lapsing into parody. While Russell didn’t actually sing in the movie (he lip-synched to vocals recorded by country star Ronnie McDowell), he succeeded in channeling the raw power of Presley at his electrifying best onstage.

11: Control

Inevitably creating a myth and a lasting cult status, Joy Division singer Ian Curtis killed himself aged just 23, just as his Manchester-based band were on the cusp of mainstream success after two superb, critically-acclaimed albums. Anton Corbijn’s excellent 2007 biopic, Control , peels away much of the legend and hearsay to reveal Curtis the human being: a complex and flawed individual who ultimately can’t reconcile having an affair while being married with a young child. Both Sam Riley, as Curtis, and Samantha Morton, as his wife, Deborah, are highly compelling, and the director’s reliance on black-and-white footage vividly captures the starkness of the Mancunian landscape a decade before the city morphed into the epicenter of cool during the Madchester era.

10: What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Adapted from the book I, Tina , by Tina Turner and Kurt Loder, this popular biopic was big news at the box office in 1993, grossing almost $40 million in the US alone. Directed by Brian Gibson, it deals with the tempestuous relationship between Ike and Tina Turner, whose string of remarkable, Phil Spector-produced hits are unable to mask the fact Tina is suffering at the hands of her abusive spouse. Post-divorce, Tina would become a global superstar in her own right, and she’s portrayed sympathetically here by the Golden Globe-winning Angela Bassett, while Laurence Fishburne is equally inspired as the cruel, volatile Ike.

9: La Vie En Rose

French actress Marion Cotillard had already begun to prove herself on the global stage during the early 00s with roles in mainstream films such as Ridley Scott’s A Good Year , in which she played opposite Russell Crowe. However, few would have expected her to shine as brightly as she did while playing chanteuse extraordinaire Edith Piaf in Olivier Dahon’s La Vie En Rose . Indeed, Cotillard does a remarkable job of capturing The Little Sparrow’s vulnerability and volatility as she rises from the gutter to staging performances in France’s grandest music halls in this memorable 2007 biopic. The actress rightly received an Academy Award for the role, marking the first time an Oscar was awarded for a French-language role.

8: The Buddy Holly Story

Released in 1978, director Steve Rash’s Buddy Holly biopic features Gary Busey turning in an admirable portrayal of the Lubbock-born singer-songwriter who influenced iconic future names including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones . Still eminently watchable, it charts Holly’s life from teen rocker in Texas to global stardom with The Crickets, and his latter-day solo career, involving a heavy touring schedule that would prematurely claim his life in an ill-fated plane crash in February 1959. Busey rightly received an Oscar nomination for his performance and The Buddy Holly Story remains a consistently acclaimed entry in the best music biopics of all time.

7: Coal Miner’s Daughter

Reputedly hand-picked by the artist herself, Sissy Spacek turned in an arguable career-best performance in her portrayal of troubled country star Loretta Lynn in this much-acclaimed 1980 biopic. Based upon Lynn’s autobiography, and also featuring Tommy Lee Jones and The Band ’s Levon Helm, Coal Miner’s Daughter follows the legendary singer’s life, from her desperately poor childhood to superstardom, with Spacek’s inspirational performance yielding her an Academy Award. It remains a biopic with across-the-board appeal, and its spin-off soundtrack album also sold half a million copies and went gold.

Lavishly shot with no expense spared, 1984’s Amadeus is One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest director Miloš Forman’s fictionalized biography of the groundbreaking 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with the plot homing in on the notorious rivalry between Mozart (played with ruthless intensity by Tom Hulce) and Italian composer Antonio Salieri (F Murray Abraham) at the court of Emperor Joseph II. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, it’s a grandiose epic in the best possible sense of the term and it went on to win a staggering eight Academy Awards, including an Oscar for Best Picture.

5: Lady Sings The Blues

One icon played another in 1972’s Lady Sings The Blues , with soul diva Diana Ross turning in a commanding performance as legendary jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday . Directed by Sidney J Furie of The Ipcress File fame, the film follows the jazz star from her traumatic youth through her rise to fame. While the storyline pulls few punches where Holiday’s personal demons are concerned, it ends on a high note, recreating her triumphant return to the stage at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Lady Sings The Blues received five Academy Award nominations, and even notoriously sniffy US film critic Roger Ebert admitted Ross’ portrayal of Holiday was “one of the great performances of 1972.”

4: Walk The Line

One of 2005’s most successful films, director James Mangold’s much-anticipated Johnny Cash biopic didn’t disappoint. Based upon two separate autobiographies penned by the iconic singer-songwriter, Walk The Line featured electrifying performances by Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, and delves into the highs and lows of The Man In Black’s life, from his musical career and his romance with Carter through to his tussles with drugs and alcohol, and his legendary shows at America’s notorious Folsom Prison, in January 1968. Widely acclaimed, Walk The Line bagged five Oscar nominations, with Witherspoon taking home the Best Actress Award.

3: Straight Outta Compton

NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton (2015) was directed by F Gary Gray, but the influential hip-hop outfit’s surviving members were involved all the way down the line, with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre producing, and Ice Cube being played by his real-life son O’Shea Jackson, Jr. Consequently, this is a biopic which pulls few punches and strives to keep it real – at least from the group’s perspective. Highly absorbing throughout, Straight Outta Compton went on to scoop a truckload of industry awards, including an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and it also inspired Dr. Dre’s widely-acclaimed solo album Compton .

Written, directed, and produced by Taylor Hackford, Ray (2004) focuses on 30 years in the life of pioneering soul music/R&B icon Ray Charles , tracing the arc of his career from his early years in the clubs on North America’s chitlin’ circuit through his crossover success with Atlantic Records, his commercial decline during the 70s and his remarkable latter-day comeback, winning a Grammy for his Chaka Khan collaboration “I’ll Be Good To You.” Jamie Foxx oozes charisma in the lead role and his career-defining performance earned him five industry awards, including an Oscar, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globe.

1: Bohemian Rhapsody

One of the biggest releases of 2018, Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody blew away the competition in the commercial sense, with Billboard dubbing it the highest-grossing music biopic of all time at the end of the year. Critically, however, it was also a phenomenon, attracting multiple industry awards, including the coveted Best Actor for Rami Malek’s magnificent portrayal of Freddie Mercury . It completely changed all expectations of what the best music biopics can achieve.

June 4, 2021 at 4:36 am

Dirt – Motley Crue

June 5, 2021 at 1:52 am

‘…then little-known Kurt Russell’?

The Real Thang

September 14, 2023 at 7:06 am

Bohemian Rhapsody was hot garbage and an obvious Hollywood controlled retelling. THE TEMPTATIONS for whatever is not in this list and should be top 10.

Daniel A Ribel

March 27, 2024 at 4:13 pm

Not including Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS shows you have little attention span. It was nominated everywhere and Austin Butler made Kurt Russell look ridiculous. Butler was not only Oscar and SAG nominated, but won the Foreign Press Golden Globe,International Press Satellite,UK BAFTA Australia AACTA international,Irish IFTA International, Catalonia Spain Sant Jordi, South African Film Critics ect and actually made millions of new Elvis fans around the world

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The Best Audiobook Biographies

The best biographies are often more engaging than fiction. Whether they're autobios or told from an outside perspective, a good biography or memoir is like listening to someone interesting tell you their life story. The best biography audiobooks make it easier to listen to interesting lives while you go about yours at work, or just doing tasks around the house.

Some of the best biographies have inspired movies, such as Wild , American Sniper and Eat, Pray, Love . Great biography audiobooks also range from the life stories of the very famous, such as Steve Jobs , to people who lived fascinating lives without achieving fame, like the historical biography Maude . There are even versions of biographies read by the author, such as The Glass Castle , written and read by Jeannette Walls; What Happened, written and read by Hilary Rodham Clinton; and Becoming , written and read by Michelle Obama.

Which of these biographies will you download? Try Audible and get two free audiobooks - which makes it even easier to start listening to life stories. Vote for the biography audiobooks you would recommend and add any must-listen books we might have missed.

Lucky: A Memoir

Born a crime.

Educated: A Memoir

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

The Glass Castle

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed

The Yorkshire Shepherdess

High school: a memoir tegan quin , sara quin.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison

The Magnolia Story

When Breath Becomes Air

What Happened

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Inside out demi moore.

Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary

Ranking the best novels and non-fiction books of every genre.

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35 Best Famous People Biography Podcasts

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Famous People Biography Podcasts

Here are 35 Best Famous People Biography Podcasts worth listening to in 2024

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2. Founders

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4. A Life in Biography

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6. Y2K | An Autobiography

7. The Life of Prophet Muhammad - by Sheikh Azhar Nasser

8. The Rock Star Biography Podcast

9. The Life and Times of Frederick the Great

10. Byte Sized Biographies…

11. 5 Minute Biographies

12. The Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast by Marcus Luer

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14. Autobiography of a Schnook

15. CryptoBiography

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18. Journey to Becoming: A Memoir Podcast by Phette Hollins

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20. Buzzin' Biographies

21. Their Life Story

22. Stardom

23. Children Book Biography Podcast

24. Brief Biographies of Famous People

25. American Biography

27. Biography

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29. Tesla: The Life and Times Podcast

30. Christians who made a difference

31. A Biography Podcast - Life Histories of Successful People

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Screen Rant

10 best performances in musical biopics, according to reddit.

The musical biopic genre has recently grown synonymous with flashy, stylish performances - but which of these roles best impressed Reddit users?

Particularly over the past few years, musical biopics have grown increasingly popular thanks to their ability to tell a quick, sensationalized story full of bold storytelling and catchy music in two short hours. The latest example of this trend is Baz Luhrmann's  Elvis ,  which chronicles the troubled rise of the so-called King of Rock and Roll.

At the heart of every musical biopic is a flashy, transformative performance that can often propel an actor towards critical acclaim - and often, awards. Movie buffs on Reddit  have given their opinion on some of cinema's finest musical biopic performances - including those that gathered widespread attention and some that flew under the radar.

Taron Egerton As Elton John - Rocketman (2019)

Dexter Fletcher's  Rocketman   tells the sensational and unforgettable story of Elton John's whirlwind rise to stardom in the 1970s, with the central figure being played by Taron Egerton in an undeniably career-defining performance. Even those for whom the film didn't work can admit that Egerton was fantastic in the role, expertly capturing the spirit of Elton's music.

Reddit user hurricanetrash  argues that Egerton's performance was "criminally underrated," making note of his omission from the Academy Award lineup that year. This was particularly surprising given his acquisition of the Golden Globe in the same year.

Andrew Garfield As Jonathan Larson - Tick...Tick...Boom! (2021)

2021 was  unequivocably  Andrew Garfield's year; not only did he reprise his role as Spider-Man in  No Way Home and star opposite Jessica Chastain in Michael Showalter's  The Eyes of Tammy Faye,  but he also received an Oscar nomination for his starring role as Jonathan Larson in Lin-Manuel Miranda's  Tick...Tick...Boom!

Reddit user dgenerationmc  gives Garfield a "shoutout" for his work in the movie, echoing a sentiment that many movie fans and   critics share. He perfectly captured the electricity and resilient energy that made Larson such an interesting figure, truly doing the theatre legend justice.

Joaquin Phoenix As Johnny Cash - Walk The Line (2005)

Redditor jeditigger  argues that Joaquin Phoenix was "robbed of an Oscar for  Walk The Line ,"  in which he plays an aspiring Johnny Cash in the early years of his career. The actor has given several standout performances in his career, but many will agree that this is among his best.

Walk The Line  is widely considered one of the best musical biopics of recent years , so it's no surprise that Phoenix's performance has maintained this acclaim since the film's release. He completely transforms into Johnny Cash, adopting his mannerisms with uncanny authenticity.

Cate Blanchett As Bob Dylan - I'm Not There (2007)

Although it's a slightly unconventional pick, one Reddit user labels Cate Blanchett the "standout" of  I'm Not There ,  a visionary biopic about the rollercoaster life of music legend Bob Dylan. The film portrays several different versions of the musician, all played by different actors and actresses.

With a cast including Richard Gere, Christian Bale, and Heath Ledger, the film explores many different aspects and eras of Dylan's life through separate performances and narratives. Blanchett is completely unrecognizable as Dylan, and definitely provides the most transformative portrayal.

Gary Busey As Buddy Holly - The Buddy Holly Story (1978)

Steve Rash's  The Buddy Holly Story  is often cited as one of the  first  musical biopics ever made, or at least one of the most formative for the genre. It details Buddy Holly's rise to stardom in the 1950s, focusing on the difficulties and tragedies that often go overlooked in his story.

Redditor summermummer  cites "Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story "  as one of the greatest musical performances of all time, which is particularly impressive given the fact that Busey performed his own vocal covers of Holly's songs in the film.

Val Kilmer As Jim Morrison - The Doors (1991)

The Doors  is not only  one of Val Kilmer's best movies to date , but also boasts one of his most impressive and transformative performances. The film, directed by Oliver Stone, follows the story of Jim Morrison and The Doors as they navigate the rocky road to success.

Redditor mcigglytuffmuffin  describes Kilmer's performance as "absolutely delightful," despite some of the film's narrative decisions not being "100% accurate." Morrison was an incredibly unique individual and an even more unique musician, which the film doesn't hesitate to portray.

Rami Malek As Freddie Mercury - Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

It might not be the most critically acclaimed film on this list, but if there's one thing that  Bohemian Rhapsody   deserves to be praised for, it's the powerhouse lead performance from Rami Malek. He plays Freddie Mercury with all the style and personality that the one-of-a-kind frontman deserves.

Reddit user jvortex888  agrees that, whilst they don't love the film as a whole, "all of [the good parts] involve Rami Malek/Freddie Mercury". He brings the film to life in an unprecedented way, introducing a whole new generation of movie fans to the masterclass music of Queen.

Chadwick Boseman As James Brown - Get On Up (2014)

Reddit user njgreenwood  claims that "[Chadwick] Boseman basically becomes James Brown" in  Get On Up , which doesn't shy away from displaying the trials and tribulations that Brown faced on his quest to become one of the greatest musicians of his era.

Alongside veteran actors like Viola Davis and Dan Aykroyd, Chadwick Boseman completely steals the show in his best role to date.  He might be best known as the Marvel Comics hero Black Panther , but it's roles like this that truly display the heights of Boseman's acting capabilities.

Sam Riley As Ian Curtis - Control (2007)

The story of Ian Curtis from Joy Division is a difficult one to watch, but  Control   perfectly captures the dark and macabre spirit that made his music so uniquely touching. Sam Riley plays the band's frontman in the film, and he manages to perfectly embody everything about the individual that makes him a perfect subject for a study like this.

Reddit user tetoffens  remarks that "Sam Riley is really singing" in the film, which is a huge accomplishment given the sharp emotivity of his vocals. Riley also captures Curtis' traits and mannerisms to an uncanny degree of accuracy, which makes  Control feel more like a documentary than a drama.

Michael Douglas As Liberace - Behind The Candelabra (2013)

Behind The Candelabra   chronicles the final few years of Liberace's successful life, though it sidelines his musical accomplishments for a more critical examination of his relationship with his much younger lover. Douglas completely disappears into the role, which allows the film to really analyze the character in a complex way.

Redditor moviemike007  argues that Michael Douglas "made for a great Liberace," with Damon also shining as his controversial co-star. Behind The Candelabra  is widely considered to be one of Steven Soderberg's best dramas , and much of this comes down to Douglas and Damon's contagious chemistry.

NEXT: 10 Musical Groups Who Need Their Own Biopic Movie

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Amazon’s Bestselling Taylor Swift Biography Is On Sale for $5 & Makes the Perfect Gift for Swifties

Starting with her Pennsylvania roots to her rise to fame, learn about the singer-songwriter's journey to global success.

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Throughout 112 pages, Who Is Taylor Swift? details the Billboard Hot 100 chart topper’s life from growing up on a tree farm in Pennsylvania to her music reinvention and multiple award wins. You’ll also be able to look at illustrations of the singer by artist Gregory Copeland.

Fans new and seasoned can enjoy flipping through its pages; even verified Amazon reviewers can’t get enough of the book with one Swiftie commenting that they “still learned a few things [they] didn’t know.”

And, if you’re looking to further expand your merch collection, you can pick up a copy of Taylor Swift Mad Libs and a popular fashion book that details some of her most notable style moments. If you want to infuse some of her style into your closet, then you can also snag the exact Aupen purse she’s sported and more of her best outfits if you need some costume ideas to wear if you plan on getting tickets to the Eras tour .

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How to watch CMT Music Awards: Live stream the 2024 show

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The 2024 CMT Music Awards air live tonight, and some of the biggest names in country music will be there. There are a couple of ways to tune in without cable, so we'll make sure to highlight your cheapest option. Keep reading to learn everything about how to watch the CMT Music Awards.

The CMT Music Awards air live from Austin, Texas, and will be hosted by Kelsea Ballerini. There will be performances from Jason Aldean, Dasha, Little Big Town with Sugarland, Keith Urban, and many more. The list of presenters includes Melissa Etheridge, Gayle King, Amber Riley, Billy Bob Thornton, and Emma Roberts, among others. The evening culminates in the Video of the Year category, which viewers can vote on throughout the live show. 

If you're hooked on Dasha from TikTok or hoping to catch the Video of the Year winner live, we've got you covered. You can find everything you need to know about the CMT Music Awards below, including a free trial option.

• See also: How to watch March Madness | How to watch MLB  | Where to watch Young Sheldon

CMT Music Awards live stream

• US: Paramount+ with Showtime (one-week free trial) , Hulu + Live TV ($76.99)
• Access subscriptions from anywhere via ExpressVPN (30-day money-back guarantee)
• When: Sunday, April 7 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS

How to watch the CMT Music Awards in the US

The 2024 CMT Music Awards air on CBS on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. The awards are scheduled to air until 11 p.m. ET. The cheapest live streaming option for cord-cutters will be a subscription to Paramount+ with Showtime . Subscriptions are $11.99 a month and come with a one-week free trial. If you want to watch live, you need to make sure you get the Showtime tier, not just the Paramount+ Essential plan, since the former will allow you to stream via your CBS affiliate.

You can also tune into CBS live via Hulu + Live TV , which starts at $76.99 a month. While this is the more expensive option, it comes with more than 90 live TV channels and is a solid replacement for cable. The bundle also includes regular Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+.

How to watch the CMT Music Awards from anywhere

If you'll be traveling outside the US for the show, you can always use a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs temporarily alter your device's virtual location so that you can access websites and apps that might not be available in the region you're traveling to. These are also solid ways to improve your online privacy.

Interested in learning more? Our go-to is ExpressVPN , a user-friendly VPN with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Take a look at our ExpressVPN review to learn more and keep reading to see how to use a VPN. 

How to watch the CMT Music Awards with a VPN

• Sign up for a VPN if you don't have one.
• Install it on the device you're using to watch the CMT Music Awards.
• Turn it on and set it to a US server.
• Purchase a Paramount+ with Showtime account.
• Enjoy the CMT Music Awards.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

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