Showing titles in Entertainment & Celebrities

While most successful sidemen are lucky to spend a decade in the music business, multi-instrumentalist Mark Rivera is working on his fifth. Rivera has shared the stage with some of Rock 'n' Roll's greatest performers, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Simon & Garfunkel, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Tony Bennett, Sheila E., Joe Walsh, Hall & Oates, and Peter Gabriel. How does he do it while avoiding the typical pitfalls—falling out of favor with the band, burnout, depression?

‘My name is Michael Pennington, and I am not a comic character. I'm often mistaken for one though. You might know him by another name. Johnny Vegas.’ From BBC Dickens adaptations to Benidorm and Ideal to the PG Tips ads, Johnny Vegas has become one of Britain's best-loved comic actors.

As one of the most recognisable faces in showbiz today, Kerry Katona has seen more than her fair share of ups and downs played out in public. Once labelled ‘the nation's sweetheart,' the Atomic Kitten singer rose from foster care to international stardom but her fall from grace in a haze of drink and drugs was just as dramatic, as she saw her picture-perfect marriage crumble and her career slump.

Renowned as a BBC journalist, Victoria Derbyshire has spent 20 years finding the human story behind the headlines. In 2015 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. With honesty and openness, she decided to live out her treatment and recovery in the spotlight in a series of video diaries. Victoria has kept a diary since she was nine years old, and in Dear Cancer, Love Victoria she shares her day-to-day experiences of life following diagnosis and coming to terms with a future that wasn't planned.

As is the case with so many musicians, the life of Warren Zevon was blessed with talent and opportunity yet also beset by tragedy and setbacks. Raised mostly by his mother with an occasional cameo from his gangster father, Warren had an affinity and talent for music at an early age. After an impromptu performance in the right place at the right time, a record deal landed on the lap of a teenager who was eager to set out on his own and make a name for himself. But of course, where fame is concerned, things are never quite so simple.

George Miller made his first film, Mad Max, in 1976 after hiring unknown Mel Gibson and editing it in his kitchen. It would become the most profitable film ever made. Miller and Max is the story of two heroes. One, a globally recognised dystopian warrior. The second, the artist who created him. Written with the cooperation of a role call of cast, crew, family and associates, author Luke Buckmaster gets behind the scenes of both the set and the man: revealing the Max in Miller.

Roger Daltrey is the voice of a generation. That generation was the first to rebel, to step out of the shadows of the Second World War...to invent the concept of the teenager. This is his story, from his birth at the height of the Blitz through tempestuous school days to his expulsion, age 15, for a crime he did not commit (though he was guilty of many other misdemeanours he'd got away with). Thanks to Mr Kibblewhite, his draconian headmaster, it could all have ended there. The life of a factory worker beckoned. But then came rock and roll....

The Beatles are the biggest band there has ever been. James Bond is the single most successful movie character of all time. They are also twins. Dr No, the first Bond film, and Love Me Do, the first Beatles record, were both released on the same day—Friday 5th October 1962. Most countries can only dream of a cultural export becoming a worldwide phenomenon on this scale. For Britain to produce two on the same windy October afternoon is unprecedented.

From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date—a brutally honest, surprisingly poignant, and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance. A profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.

The legendary tale of industrial strength pranking, drumming, '70’s excess, big laughs, desperation, and The Who performed with gusto by Karl Howman. Set in London, LA, and on tour with one of the world’s greatest live rock bands, The Who.

Who volunteers? Why? What are you willing to do? This title presents the hilarious, heartwarming adventures of a volunteering cynic. Do the feel-good rewards commensurate with the time and effort involved? When Seb Hunter accidentally picks up the phone to a charity Fundraiser one day, he faces a moment of reckoning. It isn't so much that he lacks a social conscience; but he can no longer assuage it by buying the odd copy of the Big Issue and eating Fairtrade chocolate.

Born to Estonian parents in 1950s Bradford, Tamm's rise to fame took her from a Northern childhood to life in the fast lane: via TV appearances in Coronation Street and Girls of Slender Means to leading roles in feature films – including the cult Tales that Witness Madness, and The Odessa File, which pitched her career into the international arena. In 1978, Mary became part of essential Saturday night television as she joined the cast of Doctor Who, alongside Tom Baker, as the superlative Time Lady, Romana!

Bringing his characteristic sense of cheeky humour to the page, in this heartfelt book Alfie describes for the first time the highs and lows of over a decade singing and performing across the world. From personal dinners with Queen Elizabeth II and following in the steps of King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis in Vegas to mischievous antics with Michael Ball, Alfie's book takes us backstage to witness his brilliant career memories.

In this exceptional biography, Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna. Deftly tracing the artist's life and influence from her Michigan roots through to her sold out concerts in Lisbon, Buenos Aires, London, and Malawi, Mary captures the inspiration, fame, and activism of one of the greatest pop icons of our time.

Phil Collins gained fame as both the drummer and the lead singer for Genesis and continues to enjoy worldwide success today. He's one of only three recording artists who have sold over 100 million albums both as solo artists and separately as principal members of bands - the other two being Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.

I Carried a Watermelon is a love story to Dirty Dancing. A warm, witty and accessible look at how Katy Brand’s life-long obsession with the film has influenced her own attitudes to sex, love, romance, rights and responsibilities. It explores the legacy of the film, from pushing women’s stories to the forefront of commercial cinema, to its ‘Gold Standard’ depiction of abortion according to leading pro-choice campaigners, and its fresh and powerful take on the classic ‘coming of age’ story told from a naïve but idealistic 17-year-old girl’s point of view.

In 1989, a young Michael Ball landed the lead role in the musical Aspects of Love. It was a moment that changed his life forever. It was the first time he worked with legends of the stage like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn; it was from that show that came his smash hit song, Love Changes Everything, which rode high in the charts for 15 weeks; it was then, also, that he first met his long-term partner Cathy McGowan and battled back against the stage fright that had threatened his career.

Have you ever wondered how the lives of great composers-especially when set against the social, political, and cultural context of their world-influences their music?After listening to this perceptive series of eight lectures on the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven, you will likely find that you hear his work in an entirely different way, your insight informed by new knowledge of how Beethoven was able to create masterpieces from the crises of his life.You'll learn about the years of progressive hearing loss-ultimately to produce total deafness-and the understandable agony and rage such a fate would bring upon a composer. About his deep depression over the end of his relationship with the woman he calls his Immortal Beloved. About his pathological hatred of authority, his persecution complex, even delusional behaviors.But you'll also learn how each of these crises, and many others, served to drive Beethoven inward, to reinvent himself and redeem his suffering through art, creating disruptive works of profound passion and beauty that reinvented the nature of musical expression in the Western world.

The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy spans the entirety of the Kids' storied career, from their early club shows in Toronto to their recent live reunion tours across North America-and everything in between. Along for the ride are a plethora of fans, peers, and luminaries to celebrate the career and legacy of Canada's most subversively hilarious comedy troupe. You'll hear tributes from Seth Meyers, Judd Apatow, Garry Shandling, Paul Feig, Mike Myers, David Cross, Michael Ian Black, Brent Butt, Jonah Ray, Dana Gould, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Richter, and Baroness Von Sketch.

American pianist, singer, and contemporary Christian songwriter Keith Green was only 28 when he died in a plane crash with two of his small children, but he had already created a legacy of music and inspiration that would outlive him. Keith touched people through vibrant lyrics in songs like "Your Love Broke Through", "You Put This Love in My Heart", and "Asleep in the Light". In No Compromise, Melody has updated her husband's biography.