Lesley-Ann Jones

English author and Fleet Street journalist Lesley-Ann Jones has lived quite an extraordinary life and has known extraordinary people; from her friend and childhood hero David Jones, known to us as David Bowie, to Culture Club's George O'Dowd (Boy George) and John Entwistle (The Who). She seems to have seen it all and lived through everything.

She knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a writer, "since the first time I met Bowie, there was never any question. I can remember reading stories out at school. I think that generally, creatives do know that that is what they want to do with their lives. There's no 10,000 hours with us. We learn on the job."

Jones' most recent book, a Lennon biography, was published in mid-September, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to interview her about all things Lennon and Bowie, Fleet Street, writing and music.

"All roads in modern rock lead back to John Lennon." - Lesley-Ann Jones

The idea for Jones' Lennon biography, entitled Who Killed John Lennon? The Lives, Loves and Deaths of the Greatest Rock Star stemmed from the author taking "my 3 children to see Paul McCartney at the O2 in December 2018. On the journey home, we were talking about the Beatles, and I realised how little they knew about John. We were fast approaching, in 2020, the 40th anniversary of his murder and what would have been his 80th birthday. It felt like time to revisit and reappraise his life and career." Despite the book taking Lesley-Ann a shorter time to write than she would have liked, "I began in January 2019, and submitted in March 2020. That's quite quick. I prefer to have longer," it has so far received positive reviews, and a response which the author is very happy with, "the response to date has been amazing. We all want our latest book to go straight to the top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List, of course!"

As an obvious fan of Lennon and The Beatles, it is odd to think that Jones discovered The Beatles' music after the band's demise, professing that she was "too young to experience the Beatles first-hand," and that she "came in at Paul McCartney's Wings and discovered them backwards." But when writing this book, she spent hours listening to Lennon's music, both with The Beatles and as a solo artist, and with the Plastic Ono Band. "I listened to Lennon mostly on the way to Exeter, as my youngest daughter [Bridie] was at university there. John's music became embedded in my head." When writing a biography of an artist, "[you] should only write about individuals you feel passionate about, whose music you love or whose work you admire, and who you genuinely want to get to know. Don't do it for the money, but because you genuinely want to. Because the thought of not doing it fills you with dread."

Since meeting David Bowie when she was just five-years-old, Lesley-Ann Jones has been around some of the greatest names in music. She often says, "I've worked with most of the rock stars that most people can name." Bowie, in Jones' words was, "much more ordinary and grounded than people were led to believe. His stage persona was just that. Away from it all, he was a South Londoner, just like me." As a child, Jones and her friend used to doorstep Bowie, often knocking on his then-residence, Haddon Hall, and being received by his then-wife, Angie. "She'd give us signed stuff and send us on our way. I used to say that one day she'd be out, and then he'd invite us in for tea. And one day it happened." One could only imagine what tea with David Bowie could be like, but over the years, the two South Londoners struck up a friendship, "we'd sometimes meet for lunch in New York. He even lent me the use of his house in Mustique to write the first draft of my Freddie Mercury biography. I slept in his bed - he wasn't in it, of course!"

The idea to write 'Ride A White Swan: The Lives And Death of Marc Bolan' originally that of her editor's, "After 1997's Freddie Mercury biography, there were the first words of a Freddie Mercury biopic," 2018 brought 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the long-awaited Freddie Mercury biopic, "I took a step back. My literary agent wanted to republish the FM biography. I felt that I had improved as a writer, so I rewrote it entirely, and that edition was published in 2011. From there, I was offered a three-book-deal from Hodder & Stoughton. My editor came up with the idea for a Marc Bolan book, and the idea grabbed me by the hair. You should only write a book if you have something new and valuable to say, and I did."

"I interviewed Freddie Mercury and Brian May at their offices. Freddie was very quiet, and snickered at Brian and what he was saying to me. I was invited to see their show in Dortmund, Germany. I travelled with Queen. Generally, the press were fond of the band, and the band wanted to spend time with press who enjoyed their music." Jones has written her Freddie Mercury biography twice, though it was most recently republished to coincide with the release of 2018's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', and her book was also re-titled to the same name.

Fans of Jones' work can rejoice, because she is currently writing another Freddie Mercury biography to be entitled 'Love Of My Life'.

"I'd actually really like to write an authorised biography about the Queen of England. I'd love to cover her entire reign, and her life before she was Queen. I'd ask her about Diana [Princess of Wales, died 1997], and the marriages of her children." Jones then pauses, "if she rang me up and told me to come over immediately for an interview, I'd be on my way. She fascinates me." This was not the answer that I was expecting, however it definitely left me satisfied and begging to know more - I even tried urging Lesley-Ann to write an unauthorised biography. She chuckled and told me that if she was going to do it, "I'd want to hear it all from the Queen."

So how has Lesley-Ann Jones spent the coronavirus lockdown? "I've appeared in about nine documentaries over lockdown, mostly shot in my house or in a small studio. A lot of ongoing series have been cancelled so there is a hunger for content. Four of the documentaries have been about Queen and Freddie Mercury. I think I've done more filming this year than ever before." She has also been co-writing another book, titled 'How To Be A Rock Star', with David Ambrose.

All photos in the above photo gallery are provided by Lesley-Ann Jones