F. Scott Fitzgerald was not wrong.
What I have found, over all the years spent writing about music, getting to know and trying to make sense of bands and musicians and fans and what the magic's about, and how it affects people, is that most fans are simply genuine music-lovers. They're not nutters. They don't expect much. They don't want Disneyfied. They don't need tip-of-the-iceberg, gauzed-lensed, here's-one-I-made-earlier versions of their idols. They identify with humans, not gods. They want truth. They want to understand why that person became that legend. When did it first occur to them, how did they do it, what did they have to overcome to reach the top?
Most of them rejoice in the fallibility of a rock star. It makes him sympathetic. It makes him more like them. They comprehend and forgive his shortcomings. They love him all the more for them. Freddie knew that.
Out today in paperback, wherever books are sold.
Can't wait to read it!
Johnny R