“B” is for Beatles, Boomtown Rats, Beck and beyond! Thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded, The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock delivers more than half-a-million words, displays 600 dramatic full-color photographs, and features a range of artists that includes practically every rock performer and pop personality, from The King himself to contemporary Latin-American sensation Shakira.A wealth of essential facts and honest opinions fill each of the 400 pages that comprise this rock-and-roll resource. Whether icons or bygones, influential or infamous, this informed, intelligent guide provides information on more than 1,700 artists. Plus, this latest edition features more than 200 new entries (including controversial chart-topper Eminem, teen queen Britney Spears, Grammy sensation Alicia Keys, and critics’ darlings The White Stripes. What’s more, the Encyclopedia includes an unparalleled comprehensive end-of-book discography for every artist covered.Authoritative, informative, colorful, and consistently compelling, rock fans all over the world and of every age will pick up this encyclopedia and won’t put it down until the band stops playing: there is absolutely no other more comprehensive or complete sourcebook on rock music. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music was first published in 1992, following years of intensive research and preparation by Colin Larkin. Since that time, his original database has tripled in size to include more than eight million words on popular music, and is currently the largest database of its kind in the world.• Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of full-color photos of artists and classic album covers• Includes extensive sidebars throughout with artists’ key recordings, influences, collaborators, connections, videos, and biographies• Billboard is reconized internationally as the information source for the music industry Read Less