Women in Music

Rosie Perez convincingly narrates this memoir by Ronnie Spector, lead singer of the Ronettes, a complicated woman who was socially naïve, emotionally fearless, and prone to melodrama. Perez and Spector are spiritual kin--showbiz outliers with distinctive voices, street cred, and all-in performing styles. Much of the audiobook is devoted to her producer/husband Phil Spector, who... Read More

Renowned singer Dolly Parton is center stage as she describes how her clothing choices over the years represent who she is. The production takes a Q&A format: Dolly's niece, Rebecca Seaver, also the director of Dolly's archived clothing collection, poses the questions. Seaver's engaging manner leads to Dolly's spontaneous clothing-related reflections during different periods of... Read More

Performing this revealing look at the complexities of the revered jazz pioneer Billie Holiday, actress Maya Days connects with every ounce of the brilliance and tragedy of the singer’s life. Strategic pauses in Days’s phrasing and spot-on dialect for dialogue make her sentences sing with auditory variety. But it’s her heartfelt resonance with Holiday’s difficult life that makes... Read More

Oscar-winning actor, respected singer, and self-declared icon whose comebacks and reinventions have had their own comebacks and reinventions, Cher offers the first volume of her memoir. She alternates narrating with actor and friend Stephanie J. Block--who portrayed Cher in a short-lived Broadway musical biography. Both narrators are charming, effective, and pleasing to the... Read More

Christina Delaine's performance often feels like rock singer Stevie Nicks herself is telling her story. Delaine conjures up visions of Stevie with her melodious voice, which can turn sharp as a knife when the story makes it necessary. And what a story it is: Everyone wanted her, but no one wanted to love her. This audiobook relies heavily on interviews with friends and... Read More

Rob Sheffield, a rock journalist for ROLLING STONE, is a huge fan of Taylor Swift and doesn't mind who knows it. Sheffield is middle-aged and so tall that he has to scrunch down at Swift's concerts so as not to block the view of the girls behind him. As author and narrator, Sheffield comes off as both nerdy and cool, which is a charming and infectious combination. He sounds... Read More

Alison Fensterstock and Ann Powers deliver an ambitious, sprawling, almost overwhelming project. That's by design. The history of music traditionally revolves around men and their recordings, with women as afterthoughts. This audiobook is not just about inclusion. It's a corrective recentering. The origin story of the song "Hound Dog" is a focal point. It's often attributed as... Read More

Elise Arsenault expertly delivers a truly excellent and detailed look at singer Madonna's life. From her humble beginnings, Madonna has become an icon for her music, as well as the causes she has championed over the years, such as AIDS awareness. Despite her success, she, like many celebrities, has also endured criticism for her choices of artistic expression. Arsenault offers... Read More

Singer-songwriter Margo Price writes lyrics with the soul of a poet, and this gift carries over to her prose. Sentences like "It's not that the house was large inside, but the love in it was" and "Sometimes the wind would bring stories from distant places" appear frequently. Price's clear voice makes her narration easy on the ears, and her pacing is good. Since this is an... Read More

Musician Alicia Keys delivers her own memoir. In addition to her rich, inviting style, we are treated to cameo appearances by her family and friends. These include the likes of Oprah, Bono, and Michelle Obama, among many other household names. They chime in during chapters relevant to their expertise or those that describe shared moments with the author. Keys herself is... Read More

This is a nuanced, opinionated memoir written and narrated by one of the greatest entertainers ever, EGOT-winning Barbra Streisand. While the early chapters sound a bit tentative, she comes into her own quickly. Her voice is in a lower register than in many of her most famous recordings, and listeners will likely be charmed by the conversational style of both her prose and... Read More

Known as the Queen of Folk during the 1950s-60s, the mononymous singer and guitarist Odetta was also an important Civil Rights activist. A newcomer to audiobook narration, Rosa Howard turns out to be outstanding in her narration of this first full-length biography of an influential but enigmatic figure. Howard is comfortable with Zack’s narrative; she makes his interviews and... Read More

Poet, author, and singer-songwriter Patti Smith is a natural onstage in this self-described "hyper-living theater" performance--equal parts storytelling and music. Compiled from three nights of shows at the Minetta Lane in downtown New York City, the production includes musical backup by her son, Jackson; daughter, Jesse; and collaborator, Tony Shanahan. Smith reads excerpts... Read More

Aretha Franklin turns out to be a complex musical genius in this audiobook biography. Narrator Brad Raymond does a great job of portraying the relatives and friends in her life who helped her succeed. Raymond’s cadence and inflections change as he switches from Cecil, her brother, to Carolyn and Erma, her sisters, as well as Ruth Bowen, her first manager. Aretha was a child... Read More

Singer-songwriter Janis Ian delivers both story and song in award-winning musician Miriam Therese Winter’s memoir. Each chapter moves from Winter’s personal experience to the spiritual lesson she learned from it, which is eventually expressed in her music. Ian renders Winter’s story in a lilting and engaging tone. As Winter describes working with refugees in Cambodia and... Read More

Best known for having been half of the 1970s musical duo Captain & Tennille, the author delivers a charming, intimate account of a fascinating life, much of it lived in the blinding glare of the entertainment industry spotlight. Thick with a Southern affect, her narration is as candid and raw as it is warmly honest. Her voicing, not surprisingly, is excellent and moving. Much... Read More

In this highly personal biography, a music journalist and student of the music scene from the 1960s to the present describes the life of the iconic singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Powers rejects the usual boundaries between writer and biographical subject, making her own life as a Mitchell fan an essential part of the story. Narrator Hillary Huber approaches this stirring... Read More

Dolly Parton jokes about being a prisoner of the “cartoon character” stage persona she herself created, but she is dead serious when it comes to her music. This audiobook reveals the songwriting skill and dedication of one of the nation’s most revered country and pop musicians. Narrator Janet Metzger tells how Parton went from dirt-poor Appalachian to self-made musical legend.... Read More