Stephen King reveals his favourite musicians
As our most voracious and prolific living author, Stephen King is a man of wealth and taste. He’s been around for long, long years and has written many a best-selling thriller. Even those who neglect King’s pages would have to live under a rock not to have seen at least one or two of the hundreds of film and TV serial adaptations of King’s relentless literary output.
Since his first published book, 1973’s Carrie, King’s talent for suspenseful storytelling has been rivalled only by his unbound imagination. His extraordinarily restless creative urge has led to 64 published fictional novels and over 200 short stories. However, when he’s not sat, tapping frantically at his typewriter, King can often be found with a guitar on his lap.
As a member of the baby boomer generation, King was lucky enough to live through the zenith of pop-rock music between the 1950s and ’70s. Like many Americans his age, King’s adolescent attachment to rock music was inspired to a large degree by the leaders of the British Invasion, namely The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
In 2006, King appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and picked out The Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’ as a favourite. “Of all The Beatles songs, it seems to me that it’s travelled the best over the years to my ear,” he said. “It still sounds totally fresh when I hear it today, as it did when I first heard it when I was probably 16 years old. It just gets in; it has only one thing to say, and it says it.”
After becoming famous in his own right, King acted on his passion for music over several notable collaborations, including those with Blue Öyster Cult, Michael Jackson, John Mellencamp, and the Rock Bottom Remainders, King’s band comprised mainly of authors.
Elsewhere in his Desert Island Discs selections, King picked out classic songs by Bob Dylan, Pretenders, Ryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of ‘Pon De Replay,’ a modern pop hit by Rihanna.
In 2013, King sat down for a Reddit AMA session in which one of his fans quizzed him on his favourite bands. “Who is your favourite musical act of all time, and who are you currently listening to?” they asked.
Bolstering evidence that King’s favourite musical era lies between 1965 and 1980, the writer replied, “Favorite musical act of all time? Probably Creedence Clearwater Revival. But AC/DC is close…and The Temptations…the Stones…ah, man, don’t get me started. Just not Led Zeppelin.”
Surprisingly, King couldn’t get on board with Led Zeppelin but revealed his adoration for Australian hard rock, Vietnam-era swamp rock and Detroit’s finest vocal group. Listen to The Temptations’ biggest hit, ‘My Girl’, below.
