Nov. 2, 2023 – Waiting for your hold to come in on Britney Spears' explosively popular new memoir, "The Woman in Me"? Pick up another musical memoir available at the library. From Spears' fellow '90s and early 2000s songstresses Mariah Carey and Jessica Simpson to rock and roll stars like Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and Bruce Springsteen the library has autobiographies for fans of every music genre.
Scroll through the titles below and click the covers to put them on hold in our catalog. Book descriptions are excerpted from publishers.
"The Meaning of Mariah Carey" by Mariah Carey
The global icon, award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, actress, mother, daughter, sister, storyteller, and artist tells the unfiltered story of her life.
"Reckless: My Life as a Pretender" by Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde, leader of the Pretenders, is one of the most widely imitated figures in rock: sexy, unflappable, vulnerable yet tough, a groundbreaking songwriter and performer. In these pages, Chrissie gives us her story. We see her all-American 1950s childhood in Ohio, and her teenage self falling for the rock music of the 1960s. We follow her to London, where she takes a job with NME and makes her way into the churning ’70s London punk scene, meeting Lemmy, Sid Vicious and Iggy Pop, living in squats, writing songs, playing in early versions of the Clash and the Damned. Her work with the Pretenders – which melded punk, New Wave, and pop to irresistible effect – would catapult her to instant stardom. Through it all is Chrissie’s unmistakable voice, ringing with fearless emotional honesty, a razor-sharp wit, and an enduring belief in the power of rock’n’roll.
"Me" by Elton John
Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of twenty-three he was performing his first gig in America, facing an astonished audience in his bright yellow dungarees, a star-spangled T-shirt, and boots with wings. Elton John had arrived and the music world would never be the same again. His life has been full of drama, from the early rejection of his work with song-writing partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar; from half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth; from friendships with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, and George Michael to setting up his AIDS Foundation to conquering Broadway with "Aida," "The Lion King," and "Billy Elliot: the Musical." All the while Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade. Elton also writes powerfully about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father.
"I'll Never Write My Memoirs" by Grace Jones
Grace Jones, a veritable “triple-threat” as acclaimed actress, singer, and model, has dominated the entertainment industry since her emergence as a model in New York City in 1968. Grace signed her first record deal in 1977 and became one of the more unforgettable characters to emerge from the Studio 54 disco scene, releasing the all-time favorite hits, “Pull Up to the Bumper,” “Slave to the Rhythm,” and “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You).” And with her sexually charged, outrageous live shows in the New York City nightclub circuit, Grace soon earned the title of “Queen of the Gay Discos.” But with the dawn of the ’80s came a massive anti-disco movement across the US, leading Grace to focus on experimental-based work and put her two-and-a-half-octave voice to good use. It was also around this time that she changed her look to suit the times with a detached, androgynous image. In this first-ever memoir, Grace gives an exclusive look into the transformation to her signature style and discusses how she expanded her musical triumph to success in the acting world, beginning in the 1984 fantasy-action film "Conan the Destroyer" alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, then the James Bond movie "A View to a Kill," and later in Eddie Murphy’s "Boomerang."
"Maybe We'll Make It: A Memoir" by Margo Price
Margo Price is from Aledo, in western Illinois; she's a Midwest farmer's daughter who moves to Nashville to become a musician. She waits tables, busks on the street, plays open mics, and talks to her uncle, Bob Fischer, a songwriter for dozens of country music legends. Uncle Bob's advice is to throw away her TV and do nothing but write. So, discouraged but determined, she does. Price writes constantly, but she's also trying to meet industry people (who try to take advantage of her), partying/self-destructing, and falling in love with her now husband, Jeremy Ivey, also a musician. It's a life a lot of aspiring musicians can relate to, and it is rendered here in an honest, down-to-earth voice. Price and Ivey work on their craft, and eventually, they marry and become pregnant. Some of the most vivid scenes in the book describe the loss of one of their boys, Ezra, who was born with a fatal heart condition. Price is devastated and starts a period of intense self-destruction. She takes refuge in old-school country music and begins writing in the same vein. One night, performing these new songs, she realizes this is the honest music she needs to make. Price pawns her wedding ring to help fund a demo, and the music draws interest from several major labels, but ultimately they all pass, wanting her to sing happier, or more modern, versions of her songs. Her last invitation is from Third Man Records, and they sign her. About six months later, in April 2016, she and the Price Tags play Saturday Night Live. They finally made it.
"Open Book" by Jessica Simpson
Guided by the journals she's kept since age fifteen, and brimming with her unique humor and down-to-earth humanity, "Open Book" is as inspiring as it is entertaining. This was supposed to be a very different book. Five years earlier, Jessica Simpson was approached to write a motivational guide to living your best life. She walked away from the offer, and nobody understood why. The truth is that she didn't want to lie. Jessica couldn't be authentic with her readers if she wasn't fully honest with herself first ... First celebrated for her voice, she became one of the most talked-about women in the world, whether for music and fashion, her relationship struggles, or as a walking blonde joke. But now, instead of being talked about, Jessica is doing the talking.
"Just Kids" by Patti Smith
Winner of the National Book Award. It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation. Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-Second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous, the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.
"Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as "The Big Bang:" seeing Elvis Presley's debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work.
"I, Tina: My Life Story" by Tina Turner
From small town of Nutbush, Tennessee to Hollywood stardom, to global icon. In her life Tina Turner saw it, suffered it, and survived it all. In "I, Tina" the legend tells her story how she lived it. An honest account of the beloved superstar's struggle and pain, but also glory and triumph, Turner's is one of the most fascinating and dramatic true stories in show business history. Spanning decades, from her childhood to her abusive marriage to Ike Turner to the ever-evolving musical genius that endeared her to generations of fans, "I, Tina" is a powerful memoir of a powerful woman who became one of music's most prolific and beloved icons.
"Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme" by Mary Wilson
The Supremes story – the dramatic inside look at one of the most enduring show business legends, a real life enactment of the American dream. This autobiography recounts the story of the three women – Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Diana Ross – who built the musical legacy, the Supremes
