Composers category: 3267 books

In 1805, Lorenzo Da Ponte was the proprietor of a small grocery store in New York. But since his birth into an Italian Jewish family in 1749, he had already been a priest, a poet, the lover of many women, a scandalous Enlightenment thinker banned from teaching in Venice, the librettist for three of...

Around about August 1948, Mr and Mrs Cyril Wakeman had an early night and some time later, at Perivale in Middlesex, Mrs Wakeman produced a bonny baby son. They named him Richard, but he quickly became known as Rick. Rick was a likeable little fellow who had a talent for the piano and for making...

Fall Out Boy is an American Grammy-nominated rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist-rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, bassist Pete Wentz and drummer Andy Hurley.   With Pete Wentz as the band's primary lyricist,...

In this definitive biography of Brian Jones, Laura Jackson - the first to insist that Jones was murdered and the first to identify his killer - rejects the stereotype of a narcissistic rock star who was doomed to self-destruct. Instead, she spoke to the people who knew him best: his family...

How music provided hope in one of the world's darkest times—the inspirational life story of Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest living Holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer was born in Prague in 1903. A talented pianist from a very early age, she became famous throughout Europe; but, as the Nazis...

In 2012, 70-year-old Bob Dylan marked the 50th anniversary of his debut album, Bob Dylan. For a half-century, the artist's genius forged modern culture and challenged ideas of what it meant to be a musician. Dylan pushed the envelope in the music world time and again. He was a reluctant spokesperson...

From the poverty-stricken streets of Ponce, Puerto Rico to the vibrant barrios of New York City, HECTOR LAVOE became the singer of all singers, and the driving-force behind the Salsa movement in the mid-1960s. His popularity rivaled that of his contemporaries, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. Behind...

Lita Ford is an American musician and songwriter. When she was eleven, and when she was sixteen, she was invited to join the group, The Runaways. “The Runaways” made up of teenage girls. However, by the late 70s, interpersonal issues between the group members, and problems with the band's management,...

Country music star Jason Aldean spent his adolescent years singing in rowdy bars, unaware that they would be his first steps toward achieving icon status.  Riding in rickety vans from show to show with his dad, the troubadour juggled his schedule to accommodate school, baseball, working for spare...

THE SEQUEL TO THE NUMBER 1 BESTSELLER WORKING CLASS BOY It's a life too big and a story too extraordinary for just one book. Jimmy Barnes has lived many lives - from Glaswegian migrant kid to iconic front man, from solo superstar to proud father of his own musical clan. In this hugely anticipated...

A legendary beauty, hailed as one of the greatest singing actors of her time, Jarmila Novotná (1907--1994) was an internationally known opera soprano from the former Czechoslovakia. Best known for her performances in Der Rosenkavalier, The Marriage of Figaro, and La Traviata, she was a celebrated...

"Funny, I don't feel like a legend." -- Barbra Streisand She is a one-name legend, a global icon, the ultimate diva. Yet most of what we know about Barbra Joan Streisand is the stuff of caricature: the Brooklyn girl made good, the ugly duckling who blossomed into a modern-day Nefertiti,...

‘Veel mensen die mij privé kennen houden van mij als Jan, maar willen niets te maken hebben met die ultieme weekendrebel genaamd DJ Jean.’ Maak kennis met Jan Engelaar alias DJ Jean, Nederlands eerste dj-celebrity, berucht om zijn losbandige levensstijl, gepeperde uitspraken en zijn liefde voor...

For years, Todd Snider has been one of the most beloved country-folk singers in the United States. He had a Top 40 hit with “Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues,” which gave national audiences the first taste of his insightful songwriting, at once satirical and sincere. Hailed by critics as one of...