Men of a Certain Age

＂My favorite writer and interviewer.＂ --Jude Rogers, music critic for the Guardian and author of The Sound of Being Human

＂If Kate Mossman’s name is on it, then I want to read it.＂ --Pete Paphides, journalist who has written about music for The Times, Mojo, and Time Out

From Jeff Beck to Ray Davies, Jon Bon Jovi to Kevin Ayers, Kate Mossman has long fostered an interest in male musicians of a certain age. Why is it that when I meet them, I feel something ignite inside me? What is this strange connection - to feel so excited, yet so at ease? And how is it that in the presence of a wrinkly rock star twice my age, I sometimes feel like I’m meeting . . . me? Featuring 19 long-form profiles lovingly constructed for The Word magazine and the New Statesman, Men of a Certain Age chronicles the lives of some of the biggest rock stars of our time, including Brian May, Gene Simmons, Terence Trent D’Arby, Johnny Rotten and Nick Cave.

The book is a meditation on the powerful archetype of the ageing rock star, but it is also a personal story - of music and obsession, and of the deep unconscious projections at play in our relationships with the famous people who most capture our hearts.

Kate Mossman is a writer, presenter and broadcaster who has been writing extensively about music and musicians since she started her career working with Mark Ellen and David Hepworth at Word magazine in 2008. She is the writer and presenter of BBC4 documentaries Girl in A Band (2016), When Pop Ruled My Life (2015) and The Women Who Wrote Rock for Radio 4. She currently writes for Guardian, Observer and is arts editor for the New Statesman. She lives in London. Men of a Certain Age is Kate’s long-anticipated debut book.