A Survey Of 2025’s Music-Themed Books

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – NOVEMBER 10: Patti Smith performs the album Horses live on stage during the 50th Anniversary Tour at Paramount Theatre on November 10, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jim Bennett/Getty Images)

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As it has been for at least 20 years now, the popularity of music memoirs and music-themed books in the publishing industry shows no signs of flagging — and 2025 was no different. For music fans who are also avid readers, there were plenty of offerings, whether in the form of autobiographies by legends (Patti Smith, Yusuf/Cat Stevens); oral histories (the Beatles, the Doors); and photography (the Grateful Dead, Annie Lennox). Here, in no particular order or ranking, is a partial list of some of those types of books that were published this year.

Giant Steps: My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights to Executive Heights

By Derek Shulman with Jon Wiederhorn

Derek Shulman is proof that there are second acts in life. In the 1970s, he was the singer of the popular British progressive rock group Gentle Giant. After that group disbanded in 1980, he became a record executive who signed hit artists such as Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Dream Theater and Pantera. His adventures within his former band and in the music industry are told in his new memoir, Giant Steps.

Retrospective

by Annie Lennox

The legendary Scottish singer — best known as one-half of the duo Eurythmics and a successful solo artist — recounts her life and long career through photographs taken of her over the years in this sumptuous collection curated by Lennox herself.

Waiting on the Moon

by Peter Wolf

“Dull” is definitely not a word that describes the former lead singer of the J. Geils Band. His recent memoir, Waiting on the Moon, doesn’t read so much as a straightforward narrative memoir but as a collection of fascinating tales from his decades in rock and roll. Among Wolf’s stories are his encounters with such artists as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and the Rolling Stones.

Heartbreaker

By Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval

The lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recounts his experiences with the beloved and legendary band by tracing his early life as an aspiring musician from Gainesville, Florida, to his friendship and partnership with the group’s late namesake leader.

The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told

By Bill Janovitz

Author and Buffalo Tom singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz takes a fascinating deep dive into the not-often-told story of the popular Boston New Wave band known for such hits as “Just What I Needed,” “Shake It Up” and “Drive.” Not just a history of the Cars and their successes, but the book is also a sobering glimpse of what it’s like to be in a band through the highs and lows.

David Gilmour: Luck and Strange: Studio/Live

By Polly Samson

This book of photographs by the writer Polly Samson documents her husband, former Pink Floyd guitarist/singer David Gilmour, as he worked on and toured behind his then-new 2024 album Luck and Strange. For those who attended last year’s shows in Los Angeles, New York, London and Rome, this collection is bound to stir some fond memories of Gilmour performing his solo material and Floyd favorites.

The Lost Voice

By Greta Morgan

In her memoir, singer-songwriter Greta Morgan, who is known for her work in the indie pop band The Hush Sound and as a touring musician with Vampire Weekend, recalls losing her voice after contracting COVID in 2020. She also examines how that devastating loss led her on a journey of self-discovery and perseverance.

Don’t Stop: Why We (Still) Love Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’

By Alan Light

Even after nearly 50 years, Fleetwood Mac’s classic Grammy-winning album Rumours continues to resonate—and surprisingly with members of Gen Y and Z. Music journalist Alan Light looks at the album and its ongoing cultural impact with today’s younger audiences who weren’t even born when Rumours came out.

Night Divides the Day: The Doors Anthology

By The Doors

The definitive and authorized story of the iconic 1960s Los Angeles-based rock band is told by all four members — Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger — in their own words and accompanied by photos and images of memorabilia, gear and archival objects.

The Beatles Anthology

By The Beatles

Twenty-five years after its original release, The Beatles Anthology book has been reissued to coincide with the recent re-broadcast of the docuseries now streaming on Disney+. There are plenty of Beatles books on the market, but this authorized volume features the Fab Four in their own voices, telling the complete story of the band. It also contains over 1,300 images, including those from the members’ personal archives.

Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City

By Mark Ronson

Before becoming a hugely successful record producer (whose credits include Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars and Duran Duran) and musician, Mark Ronson first cut his teeth in the music world during his time as an aspiring DJ. Akin to Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in the Bathroom, Night People is a love letter to the ’90s when Ronson spun discs at now-long-gone New York City venues and spent time cratedigging for the perfect record to get the crowd moving.

Infinite Dreams

By Iron Maiden

Infinite Dreams is a 350-page celebration of the hugely popular British metal band’s 50 years of rocking audiences around the world. In addition to chronicling Iron Maiden’s history, Infinite Dreams (which has a foreword by founding member/bassist Steve Harris) contains a wealth of photos depicting the band on and off stage as well as images of memorabilia, gear and album-related artwork. And of course, the band’s favorite and wickedly demented mascot, Eddie, is featured in this heavy-duty coffee-table biography.

The Grateful Dead

By Jim Marshall

The late and great music photographer Jim Marshall documented the Grateful Dead from 1966 through 1977. Featured in this new collection are hundreds of photos — many of them previously unseen — that Marshall took of the band on stage and during intimate moments. Among those making cameos in the book are Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and members of Traffic and Jefferson Airplane. Published on the 60th anniversary of the group’s formation, this title is a perfect gift for the ultimate Deadhead.

Bread of Angels

By Patti Smith

The follow-up to her previous books, the acclaimed Just Kids and M Train, Bread of Angels is Patti Smith’s latest memoir that touches on various aspects of her life, such as the emergence and development of her music career in the 1970s that include the making of her iconic album Horses (which fittingly marks its 50th anniversary this year); her retreat from music during the 1980s to raise a family; and her return to performing in the late 1990s after the loss of both her husband Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith and brother Todd Smith.

On the Road to Findout

By Yusuf/Cat Stevens

In On the Road to Findout, Yusuf/Cat Stevens finally details his incredible professional and spiritual journey: from a British folk pop troubadour who had an astonishing run of hits in the ‘70s with such songs as “The Wind,” “Wild World” and “Morning Has Broken”; through his conversion to Islam at the height of his fame and the controversy surrounding him and author Salman Rushdie in the 1980s; to his surprising and welcomed return to recording and performing music in the 2000s.

Blondie: Against the Odds

Blondie’s story has been previously told in books, including the recent memoirs by band co-founders Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. But Against the Odds takes on a very different and unique approach by recounting Blondie’s history in graphic novel form. First published in 2023, the novel was reissued with a new dust jacket this past fall to mark Local Comic Shop Day. In addition to recounting Blondie’s history and featuring an essay by longtime band chronicler Victor Bockris, Against the Odds showcases 15 artists spinning their own tales through the lens of some of Blondie’s famous songs.

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run

By Paul McCartney

Where do you go after the end of the Beatles? That was a question all four members of the iconic band faced after their breakup in 1970. For Paul McCartney, the answer was to start a new band, Wings, which went on to achieve a run of hits throughout the 1970s (among them “Band on the Run,” “My Love,” “Silly Love Songs” and “Listen to What the Man Said). But in the shadow of the Beatles, Wings — featuring McCartney, his wife Linda, and guitarist/singer Denny Laine as the constants — have been somewhat underrated. Which is why this new oral history about Wings is much needed, featuring commentary by McCartney and all the members of Wings from the different lineups, as well as from John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, George Martin and many others.

The Uncool

By Cameron Crowe

Before he became a renowned screenwriter and film director (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky), Cameron Crowe was a young, budding reporter for Rolling Stone magazine during the 1970s. Back then, he covered such major acts as Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and the Eagles — a period in his life that inspired his beloved 2000 comedy-drama film Almost Famous. This time around, Crowe recounts his adventures as a music journalist from that era in his new memoir.

Shouting Out Loud: Lives of the Raincoats

By Audrey Golden

Having written about the late ‘70s British indie label Factory Records in I Thought I Heard You Speak, author Audrey Golden revisits the post-punk era to focus on a very unique and groundbreaking U.K.-based group: the Raincoats, led by singer/guitarist Ana da Silva and singer/bassist Gina Birch. Shouting Out Loud is the first and definitive biography of the group thate released their acclaimed 1979 self-titled debut album and earned admiration from generations of alt-rock musicians, including Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna. Featuring a foreword by esteemed music critic Greil Marcus, Golden’s book features interviews with the past and present members of the Raincoats, along with their manager Shirley O’Loughlin; Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis; Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon; Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein; and Liz Phair.

Musik: The 1960s Photographs

By Bent Rej

In the 1960s, the late Danish photographer Bent Rej witnessed and shot many of the iconic music acts of the decade—among them the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Who, the Kinks, and especially the Rolling Stones. Sized in the shape of a vinyl record, the beautiful assembled Musik, featuring over 200 images, captures those acts performing on stage and in intimate moments away from the public eye.