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Must-Read Music Books for 2025

Discover the latest must-reads on music, musicians, and the vibrant world of sound!

User from Greenwich Library

14 items

  • Mood Machine

    the Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist

    Pelly, Liz,
    Drawing on over 100 interviews with industry insiders, former Spotify employees, and musicians, a music journalist reveals the inner workings of today's highly consolidated record business, showing what has changed as music has become increasingly…
    Book, 2025New York : One Signal Publishers/Atria, [2025] — 780.2854 PELLY
  • Eternal Flame

    the Authorized Biography of The Bangles

    Bickerdike, Jennifer Otter,
    Featuring exclusive insights from the band members themselves, this biography of the groundbreaking all-female pop band chronicles their meteoric rise to 1980s superstardom, the challenges of fame and their enduring legacy in a male-dominated music…
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Grand Central Publishing, 2025. — 782.4216 BANGL BICKE
  • Chronicles the Grammy-nominated artist's evolution from an isolated, poverty-stricken childhood in rural Washington to a revered international figure, emphasizing themes of loneliness, nature, camaraderie, and the transformative impact of music and…
    Book, 2025New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2025. — 782.4216 CASE CASE
  • Before Elvis

    the African American Musicians Who Made the King

    Lauterbach, Preston,
    This exploration of the Black musicians who shaped Elvis Presley's music focuses on four overlooked artists while examining their influence, legacies and the systemic injustices that kept them in poverty as others profited from their work.
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group, 2025. — 781.6408 LAUTE
  • Pretend We're Dead

    the Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Women in Rock in the '90s

    Pearson, Tanya, 1980 or 1981-
    From the founder of the Women of Rock Oral History Project, an exploration of women in the '90s rock scene, featuring original interviews with Liz Phair, Shirley Manson, Kristin Hersh, Donita Sparks, Tanya Donelly, members of Hole, Luscious Jackson,…
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Grand Central Publishing, 2025. — 782.4216 PEARS
  • Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira's own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America's best-loved songs, like "Fascinating Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "They Can't Take…
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Liverlight Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2025] — 782.14 GERSH OWEN
  • Jean Grae debunks the myth that coming-of-age narratives should be reserved for the kids, providing a rallying cry for those of us still trying to figure it out in our forties. These laugh-out-loud essays cover everything from aging gracefully (with…
    Book, 2025New York : Flatiron Books, 2025. — 782.4216 GRAE GRAE
  • Waiting on the Moon

    Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses

    Wolf, Peter, 1946-
    Peter Wolf grew up in the Bronx, a child of “fellow travelers” whose artistic inclinations influenced both his love of music and his initial desire to become a painter. After Wolf joined the J. Geils Band as their front man and his musical fame…
    Book, 2025New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2025. — 782.4216 WOLF WOLF
  • Dreaming in Ensemble

    How Black Artists Transformed American Opera

    Caplan, Lucy,
    Lucy Caplan explores Black opera in the first decades of the twentieth century, before the "golden age" inaugurated by Marian Anderson. Early Black opera was decidedly countercultural, fostering aesthetic innovation and antiracist activism, as…
    Book, 2025Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : Harvard University Press, 2025. — 782.109 CAPLA
  • I Dream of Joni

    a Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots

    Alford, Henry, 1962-
    The eternal singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is seen anew, portrayed through a witty and comprehensive exploration of anecdotes, quotes, and lyrics by "the most graceful of humorists" (Vanity Fair) and author of And Then We Danced.
    Book, 2025New York : Gallery Books, 2025. — 782.4216 MITCH
  • Secret Public

    How Music Moved Queer Culture From the Margins to the Mainstream

    Savage, Jon,
    A monumental history of the gay influence on popular culture, from the rise of Little Richard to the collapse of disco in 1979. Award-winning author Jon Savage takes us on a fast and captivating journey through the history of pop music as seen…
    Book, 2025New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, 2025. — 781.4216 SAVAG
  • With sharp humor and raw honesty, Fahrenheit-182 takes readers through Mark's formative years as a latchkey kid in the 1980s, hooked on punk rock, skateboards, and MTV. Along the way, Mark reflects on his lifelong battle with anxiety, his celebrated…
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Dey St., an imprint of William Morrow, [2025] — 781.4216 BLINK HOPPU
  • The Everything Guitar Chords Book

    Over 2,000 Chords for Every Style of Music

    Schonbrun, Marc,
    This book takes you on a journey from the most basic chords to the most complicated ones featuring clear, easy-to-follow diagrams of each chord as well as links to online audio of 100 essential chords, making it easier than ever for you to practice…
    Book, 2025New York : Adams Media, 2025. — 787.87 SCHON
  • The long-awaited reissue of Alice Coltrane’s original spiritual teachings and reflections offers deep insight into her tremendous musical output, and shines a light on her transformation from Alice McLeod, Detroit church organist and bebopper, to…
    Book, 2025Brooklyn, NY : Akashic Books, [2025] — 782.4216 COLTR COLTR