Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars 1955-1994

An elegy to the age of the Rock Star, featuring Chuck Berry, Elvis, Madonna, Bowie, Prince, & more, uncommon people whose lives were transformed by rock & who, in turn, shaped our culture  
Recklessness, thy name is rock.  

The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn’t stay the course.   

In Uncommon People, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments & turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths & create a hundred more. 

As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives & our fantasies. Uncommon People isn’t just their story. It’s ours as well.  

°°°

DAVID HEPWORTH is a music journalist, writer, & publishing industry analyst who has launched several legendary British magazines, including Q, Mojo, & the Word, among many others. He was a presenter of the BBC’s rock music program Whistle Test & anchored the BBC’s coverage of Live Aid in 1985. He has won the Editor of the Year & Writer of the Year awards from the Professional Publishers Association & the Mark Boxer Award from the British Society of Magazine Editors. He writes about radio for The Guardian, comments on cultural & media issues for many magazines & newspapers, & blogs at whatsheonaboutnow.blogspot.com.