Exit Stage Left, Nick Duerden
Exit Stage Left, Nick Duerden
List: $28.99 | Sale: $20.29
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Exit Stage Left
The curious afterlife of pop stars

Author: Nick Duerden

Narrator: Matt Bates

Unabridged: 11 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Headline

Published: 04/28/2022


Synopsis

'Exit Stage Left is the book I've long wanted to read about the PTSD-like after-effects of pop stardom - and Nick Duerden is the perfect writer for the job. The pop star's bittersweet lot - the mass adoration that comes with pop stardom, followed by the bathetic comedown of what inevitably follows - is represented with flair and empathy.' - Pete Paphides, author of Broken Greek

'Fame is the brightest candle, but in this brilliant collection of interviews, Nick Duerden answers the question: what does a candle do after it's burned out?' - David Quantick

For fans of music books from David Hepworth, Pete Paphides, Bob Stanley and Craig Brown, as well as thought-provoking human interest stories like Moondust by Andrew Smith, and books by Jon Ronson, Louis Theroux and Stuart Maconie.

A quirky, thought-provoking look at the curious afterlife of pop stars.

Nick Duerden has spent many years interviewing the most famous musicians on the planet. Without exception, they are at their most interesting when they've peaked, and when they are on their way down. In many ways, this is when these former idols are at their most heroic, too, because they reveal themselves not only to be humane and sensitive, but also still driven to create, to fulfil their lingering dreams, to refuse to live quietly.

Some sustain themselves on the nostalgia circuit. Others continue to beaver away in the studio, no longer Abbey Road so much as the garden shed. The desire for adulation is a light that never goes out. We live in a culture obsessed by the notion of fame - the heedless pursuit of it, the almost obligatory subsequent fallout. But what's it like to actually achieve it, and what's it like when fame abruptly passes, and shifts, as it does, onto someone else?

These are tales of heroin addiction, bankruptcy, depression, divorce - but also of optimism, a genuine love of the craft, humility and hope. All of which makes EXIT STAGE LEFT a fascinating, laugh-out-loud funny and often shocking look at what happens when the brightest of stars fall down to earth.

Featuring brand new interviews with the likes of: Bob Geldof, Shaun Ryder, Robbie Williams, Roisin Murphy, Stewart Copeland, Billy Bragg, Wendy James, Alex Kapranos, Joan Armatrading, Leo Sayer, Gary Lightbody, Lisa Maffia, Tim Booth, Bill Drummond, Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, and Justin Hawkins.

(P) 2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

About Nick Duerden

Nick Duerden is a writer and freelance broadsheet journalist. He has written widely on the arts, family and health, and is the author of two novels, a memoir on fatherhood, and other non-fiction works.


Reviews

Goodreads review by *TUDOR^QUEEN* on June 02, 2022

3.5 Stars This was a book that addressed what famous musicians experience when that initial burst of fame peters out. How do they go on with their lives when they no longer can fill arena stadiums or sell a million albums? A chapter is devoted to each musical artist and contains their personal commen......more

Goodreads review by Ciaran McGuiggan on January 13, 2023

Some really interesting stories about life after "pop" and there are probably enough artists covered so that everyone gets to read about someone they are interested in, but they are all so similar and it becomes very repetitive (they break up, they drink/take drugs, they get back together and play t......more

Goodreads review by Katy on October 06, 2024

Duerdon looks at the life of the musician and explores what happens to them after they have experienced their five minutes of fame. The manufactured pop band members left washed up and spat out by marketers and Svengali managers, the addicts who swapped fame for drugs or booze, the musicians whose o......more

Goodreads review by James on January 20, 2024

A trove of brief stories from those half forgotten and fully remembered from the music scene in the last 50 years. Some moving on to other careers and others that can’t get away from it. Recommended for any serious music fan.......more

Goodreads review by Dan on May 19, 2022

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Mobius Books, Hachette Book Groups for an advanced copy of this musical study on fame and its after effects. The music industry is very similar in many ways to the world that was presented in the science fiction novel Logan's Run, which was about a future......more


Quotes

Incredibly moving Guardian

Told with warmth and compassion . . . engrossing. The Independent

Fascinating layers of humanity, pathos and wisdom. Frank Turner

Entertaining. The Telegraph

Brilliant. David Quantick

The pop-star's bittersweet lot is represented with flair and empathy. Pete Paphides

A poignant exploration of the aftermath of adulation. Mojo

Today's stars might do well to read Exit Stage Left and plan for the second acts of their careers. The Economist