Toxic music industry culture which ignores, and often enables, addiction and abuse exposed in powerful new book

A new book from former Classic Rock/Metal Hammer contributor Ian Winwood is set to lift the lid on the darkest secrets of the music business, exposing a toxic industry-wide culture which too often prioritises profit above the safety and well-being of artists.

The synopsis for Bodies: Life and Death in Music, which is set for publication via Faber & Faber on April 21, states that “beneath the surface lies a frightening truth: for years the music industry has tolerated death, addiction and exploitation in the name of entertainment.”

Now a writer for the Telegraph, Kerrang! and Alternative Press, Winwood reveals the music industry’s myriad failings in an at-times-shocking account of neglect, coercion and transgressive behaviour, drawing upon interviews and encounters with artists such as Linkin Park, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Biffy Clyro, Frightened Rabbit, Lostprophets, Lemmy, Layne Staley, Mark Lanegan, Scott Weiland, Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Turner and more.

“Finally, a book about the music industry, now and in the past, that tells the truth,” says singer/songwriter Turner. “Anyone with any interest in the real stories behind the music they love should devour this; but they should brace themselves for some difficult stories. Winwood is excoriatingly honest in his appraisal of both the artists and himself, in this visceral examination of art, drugs, mental health and music.”

Bodies: Life and Death in Music is available to pre-order now.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.