Necessary for music lovers interested in the salient career facts and biographical information of all popular recording acts over the last 50 years, DK Publishing has a brand new reference guide called the DK Encyclopedia of Rock Stars. Authors Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, obviously not content with mere apercus, profile over 2,500 rock legends and log more than 750 entries in this nearly one thousand page tome. Each entry has fascinating facts, some never before revealed. Artists of all music genres are represented from Motown to Heavy Metal to Gospel to Grunge to Country. The DK encyclopedia captures both the absurdity and importance of rock music to both the fans as well as the artists themselves.

Each entry is organized chronologically by year and month...a kind of time-lined mini-biography of each artist or act. The earliest important events, circumstances and subsequent travails and successes are listed to illustrate the many paths a talented person may take before achieving fame. Each new album release or single record is notated with important data concerning chart position, sales, radio airplay info, videos, awards, odd happenstance and concert tour itineraries.

Rock bands are handled well with their histories and evolutionary courses plotted with precise dates and circumstances given for membership turnover, album releases, deaths or group disbandment and controversial career and personal life changes. Song authorship, greater outside influences (such as politics or drugs) as well as record producer contributions are also duly noted. The nearly academic approach is tempered with colorful insights inserted along with the astounding facts and statistical figures. These often personal and little known details offer a human and soulful side to each and every story told.