Meet LAJ: the writer who delivers real stories in rock and beyond

Hi, I'm Lesley-Ann Jones, journalist and columnist, cultural historian and commentator, and a Sunday Times bestselling author of books published on six continents in more than thirty languages.

Having spent three decades on London’s Fleet Street, covering the surreal realms of rock’n’roll and showbiz for national newspapers, I focused on researching and writing biographies of major rock stars. While retaining a fascination for music and musicians, I now cast my net across a diverse range of subjects. I have ghostwritten several celebrity memoirs, am leaning back into writing fiction, and am coaching private clients in their own creative endeavours. Each discipline brings its own challenges and rewards. No two days are the same. Sharing skills and experience, encouraging others in their quest to become professional writers and ‘giving back’ are all part of what it means to be ‘a writer’.

Published titles include:

• Love, Freddie: Freddie Mercury’s Secret Life and Love
• Love Of My Life, The Life and Loves of Freddie Mercury
• Hero: David Bowie
• Fly Away Paul: How McCartney survived the Beatles,
  found his Wings and became a solo superstar
• The Stone Age: Sixty Years of the Rolling Stones
• Songbird: An Intimate Biography of Christine McVie
  (Fleetwood Mac)

It was as a reporter that I became directly involved in three of the most sensational revelations of the age: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman’s relationship with schoolgirl Mandy Smith, Hugh Grant’s arrest in Los Angeles following a dalliance with a call girl, and Gary Glitter’s exposure for crimes against minors. My work on these and other world exclusives made headlines around the world.

I have appeared in dozens of music-led documentaries across the globe, and I continue to make regular appearances on radio and podcasts.

I am the lead contributor in the groundbreaking new feature-length documentary Freddie Mercury: A Secret Daughter produced by Honey Bee Media for C5 and distributed internationally by Paramount+.