The meteoric success of the single lead The Six to collaborate with Daisy for their third album. Titled Aurora and credited to Daisy Jones & The Six, this album would prove to be their best yet, garnering them critical acclaim and another Top 10 hit. As the Aurora World Tour commenced, everything seemed to being going smoothly.
Until, suddenly, it wasn't.
On July 12, 1979, Daisy Jones & The Six abruptly split up. No official statements were made as to why, and the band never got back together. While their position in rock history is still secure, music historians of the present can only speculate as to what lead the popular band to suddenly break up at the height of their success.
Thirty-three years after their infamous break up, Daisy Jones & The Six have finally come together to give oral testimonies about the band, their individual backgrounds, and the interpersonal drama that lead to their infamous break up. Of course, no one is completely truthful; people have a habit of reframing their own histories to make themselves look better, so it'll take some reading between the lines for the full truth to be revealed.
Daisy Jones & The Six is a 2019 historical novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The novel is told through a series of interviews with members of the band and personnel associated with them, the interviews themselves being pieced together to create a clear chronology. This chronology is split into sections dedicated to a particular period this fictional band's history.
In 2023, the novel was adapted into a ten episode live-action series available for streaming on Amazon Prime.
Notable Interviewees:
Daisy Jones & The Six:
- Daisy Jones - frontwoman, lead vocals, and lyricist
- Billy Dunne - frontman, lead vocals, guitarist, and lyricist
- Graham Dunne - lead guitarist
- Pete Loving - bassist
- Eddie Loving - rhythm guitarist
- Warren Rhodes - drummer
- Karen Sirko - keyboardist
Others:
- Rod Reyes - manager of Daisy Jones & The Six
- Camilla Dunne - wife of Billy Dunne
- Simone Jackson - disco star and Daisy's best friend
This novel contains examples of:
- The '70s: The bulk of the story is set in 1970s Los Angeles, where rock-and-roll and bohemian outfits abound.
- Abortion Fallout Drama: Karen and Graham break up after she terminates her pregnancy as she never wanted children and didn't want to give up her career. Graham still has conflicted feelings about the situation decades later when interviewed for the book.
- Ambiguous Ending: Do Daisy and Billy reunite in the wake of Camila's email to her daughters? Do they write a song together? Do they get together?
- Artist and the Band: Aurora is credited to Daisy Jones & The Six since Daisy was contributing more than just her voice this time around.
- Band of Relatives: The Six included two sets of brothers, Billy and Graham Dunne and Pete and Eddie Loving.
- Been There, Shaped History: The band is regarded as one of the best and most-influential music acts in history, had a handful of top ten singles (including a number one hit), and is mentioned in retrospect by such esteemed publications as Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
- Best Friend: Simone is one to Daisy, caring more about Daisy's welfare than Daisy does
- Big Brother Instinct: Subverted. Early on it's mentioned that Billy acted protective over Graham when they were younger, but as the book goes on, he grows quite negligent and dismissive over Graham, not caring for the first song his brother wrote, and most damningly, ignoring Graham when he was clearly distressed and hurting because Billy was going through his own stuff. His dismissal of Graham's problems leads Graham to quit the band at the same time Daisy leaves.
- Disappeared Dad: Billy and Graham's father walked out on them when they were kids. Billy latches on to their producer Teddy as a substitute father and struggles to know how to be a father to his own kids.
- Epistolary Novel: The book is told through interviews given by the band in the future.
- Foregone Conclusion: The novel opens with an author's note which mentions the band splitting up on July 12, 1979 while they were in Chicago. The author's intention is to give a concise history of the band and what lead up to that fateful day.
- The Heart: Everyone cares about Camila, and everyone in the group has an emotional connection with her and generally wants to do right by her. Even Daisy, who begins to fall for Camila's husband Billy, likes and respects Camila herself, and doesn't want to hurt her.
- I Am the Band: Billy occasionally tries to claim otherwise, but it's clear to everyone that he's in charge of The Six. The rest of the band have mixed feelings about this and are stunned when Daisy makes a point of standing up to him.
- Let's Duet: Daisy and Billy's voices go so great together that it's often cited as one of the reasons their band got as popular as it did.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Daisy is described as having her father's money and her mother's beauty, and yet being completely alone. Her family doesn't support her musical ambitions, and even she starts to doubt herself until she meets Simone.
- The Muse: Defied. Daisy hates that her boyfriends keep using her as inspiration. She doesn't want to be the muse, but to be recognized as a singer and songwriter in her own right.
- Narrator All Along: It is revealed towards the end of the novel that the one conducting the interviews is in fact the daughter of Billy and Camilla, Julia, whom was briefly spoken of earlier. Julia confesses she wanted to write the book as a way of cementing her father's legacy, and revealing what really happened that caused the band to break up.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Although there are several differences, the titular group has obvious parallels to Fleetwood Mac. Both are 70's folk/rock groups with both British and American members, both featured a female singer/songwriter and keyboardist, and both were known for internal romantic entanglements and tensions. Daisy in particular dresses and acts a lot like Stevie Nicks, including wearing dresses similar to the famous black "Rhiannon" outfit.
- Nobody Loves the Bassist: Pete Loving gets the least focus out of The Six, only being interviewed briefly towards the end of the book where he states he doesn't have anything to say. He ultimately appears to be the most stable member of the group, being Happily Married to the girlfriend he'd had since before the band started and settled into life away from music.
- Only Sane Man: Warren and Pete are the only members of the band who aren't entangled in some sort of romantic drama/ego clashes.
- The Pete Best: In-Universe. The Dunne Brothers (as they were originally known) formed with Chuck Williams as their guitarist. Chuck was drafted into The Vietnam War and killed in action before the band recorded anything. Pete's brother Eddie was brought in to replace him.
- "Rashomon"-Style: Every person interviewed has a slightly different perspective on what was happening, and the text doesn't always make it clear who (if anyone) is right.
- The Resenter: Eddie becomes increasingly resentful of Billy for how Billy keeps sidelining him.
- The Reveal: Towards the beginning of the "Chicago Stadium" section, it's revealed that the interviewer and author is Billy and Camila's daughter, Julia.
- Riddle for the Ages: For music fans, it's been debated for decades why Daisy Jones suddenly quit the band right at the height of their fame and in the middle of their massively profitable world tour.
- Scrapbook Story: The book is told through interviews with the band members.
- Secret Relationship: Graham and Karen start dating during the band's second tour but, at her insistence, they keep it a secret from everyone. Warren believed Karen was sleeping with the lighting guy. Eddie caught them having sex in a closet at the studio but apparently kept it to himself.
- Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: Once The Six start becoming successful the band all engage in this. Billy takes it too far on their first tour and has to go to rehab to get sober. Daisy also has her own struggles with heavy drug and alcohol use. After a particularly bad night she asks Billy to help her get clean but the next morning they learn Teddy has died of a heart attack which sends her spiraling again.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Billy cheats on Camila during The Six's first tour but tries his best to pull himself together after missing the birth of Julia. He keeps his promise to remain faithful after he gets sober, though falls for Daisy and nearly kisses her before stopping it.
- The 'Verse: The setting of this novel includes the slightly-altered reality of three of Reid's other books.
- Daisy attends a wild party hosted by the famous singer Mick Riva. Mick is seen smooching a couple underage girls while he himself is at least forty. Mick first appeared in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
- Malibu Rising includes references to the Breeze, a band introduced in this novel.
- Carrie Soto Is Back: During some down time, Carrie mentions that she picked up an unauthorized autobiography about Daisy Jones and The Six.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The final chapter has each member of the band, their manager and Simone saying what their lives were like in the decades between the breakup and the interviews. This is also the only time that Pete Loving is interviewed.
