Match the Music Star With Their Memoir (Part 4) Quiz

Answer: Steve Howe

Steve Howe had a five-decade career as the guitarist for legendary progressive rock bands like Yes and Asia, and that history is recounted in his 2020 book, "All My Yesterdays", the first autobiography ever written by a member of Yes. He received his first guitar when he was 12-years-old in North London. In addition to his long history with Yes, the autobiography covers his involvement with the early progressive rock band called Tomorrow, as well as with the supergroup Asia and the groups GTR and Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. He also writes about his career as a solo artist.

Answer: Ronnie Spector

Born Veronica Bennett, Ronnie Spector's "Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness" covers her singing career and stardom with the Ronettes, and her marriage to their producer Phil Spector, and abuse and addiction experienced in that relationship. And her recovery from that.

The Ronettes were three girls from Spanish Harlem who cultivated a stage image that included beehive hair styles, heavy mascara, and tight dresses; they became one of the most enjoyed 1960s "girl groups" for their massive hit "Be My Baby", along with other hits like "Baby, I Love You" and "Walkin' in the Rain."

Answer: Nick Mason

Since drummer Nick Mason is the only member of Pink Floyd who remained in the group throughout its entire history, it's only appropriate that he is the one to author "Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd", published in 2004. The band originated in the London underground music scene of the 1960s after Mason and Roger Waters met while studying architecture in London. Syd Barrett's leadership in their early experimental shows began to wane as his mental health issues and heavy drug use, increased.

After Barrett departed, Pink Floyd had is golden age with the albums "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973), "Wish You Were Here" (1975) and "The Wall" (1979).

Answer: Nile Rodgers

Referring to himself as "half hippie, and half Black Panther", Nile Rodgers discovered the guitar as a teenager, and soon thereafter the Greenwich Village music scene, playing in club bands, the Apollo Theatre house band, a "Sesame Street" touring company, and playing guitar for many legends in soul music. Then the book gets into the disco era of the 1970s, Studio 54, cocaine culture, and his reinventing himself as a music producer and songwriter for David Bowie, Madonna, Duran Duran, Diana Ross, and his own founding of the group Chic.

Answer: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney's "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present" (2021) is a two-volume memoir covering lyrics from 154 songs all the way back to demo recordings with The Quarrymen up to his present day solo work and linking those lyrics with personal anecdotes and insights on their origins.

They're alphabetically organized for easier specific song finding, and readers will find tidbits such as "Eleanor Rigby" being based on a church character in Liverpool, "Hey Jude" being written for Lennon's son Julian during his parents' split, "Jet" being inspired by the name of his pony on a Scottish farm, "Let It Be" coming from a dream about his mother Mary's passing away when he was 14, "Martha My Dear" being about the name of his beloved Old English sheepdog, "Yesterday" being inspired by a dream, etc.

Answer: Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard wrote his 1999 autobiography "My House of Memories" with journalist Tom Carter. The title comes from his own song of the same title, and like the song, his book follows the same nostalgic theme of reminiscing back on his life and how was molded by hardship (a difficult childhood), music (inspired to pursue music seriously after watching Johnny Cash's famous prison concert), troubles (time in San Quentin State Prison, where he served time in the late 1950s for burglary) and redemption building a career in the Bakersfield sound, a more raw alternative to Nashville's more polished style.

Answer: Rick Astley

Best known for his 1987 worldwide hit "Never Gonna Give You Up", Rick Astley's "Never: The Autobiography", was published in 2024. Singing in local bands near where he grew up in England, he was discovered by producer Pete Waterman, of the hit-making producers Stock Aitken Waterman.

They produced a string of hits for him, but then out of the blue, Astly retired from the industry at age 27, preferring to focus on a quieter family life. But he unexpectedly became famous again in the 2000s when the viral meme known as "Rickrolling" popped up, a prank in which someone tricks another person into clicking an internet link that unexpectedly leads to the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Instead of being offended, Rick Astley embraced the prank, even assisting to perpetrate the prank at NYC's Thanksgiving Parade, by appearing suddenly on a float performing his song when the crowd was told that characters from a Cartoon Network show would be singing.

Answer: Dolly Parton

Celebrating her 7-decade performing career, "Star of the Show: My Life on Stage", released in November 2025, is the third of Dolly Parton's trilogy of photographic books, following "Songteller: My Life in Lyrics" (2020) and "Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones" (2023).

She calls it "a love letter to the stage and to the fans who've made it all possible". The book has over 500 full-color photographs, which one imagines would be a big attraction for fans of the charming, beautiful, and talented singer/songwriter.

Answer: Andrew Ridgeley

Andrew Ridgeley's memoir "Wham! George & Me (2019)" tells the story of his lifelong friendship (they were never lovers, just friends) with the late George Michael and the rise and fall of their pop music group, Wham! They met as youngsters in school in the mid 1970s, when Ridgely befriended the new kid in the school, nee Georgios Panayiotou, and their enthusiastic love for music, listening to records and talking about becoming stars. It ends with Wham!'s farewell concert at Wembley Stadium in 1986. A short coda follows with Ridgely writing about life after the death of his friend.

Answer: Pete Townshend

The creative force and main songwriter of the iconic rock band The Who was Pete Townshend, who wrote his autobiography "Who I Am" in 2012. Growing up in London, both his parents were professional musicians. He did have family troubles growing up and the book does tackle in a philosophical and brutally honest introspective way his mistakes, his thoughtful views about music and songwriting, creativity, fame and public expectations, and his personal doubts and self-reflection.

He reflects a great deal on his famous bandmates of course, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon.

He writes about their album "Tommy", perhaps the first rock opera, and also "Quadrophenia" which I only just recently started listening to and find to be an outstanding musical experience.