Please take a moment to review Hachette Book Group's updated Privacy Policy: read the updated policy here.

Naked at the Albert Hall
In her bestselling autobiography Bedsit Disco Queen, Tracey Thorn recalled the highs and lows of a thirty-year career in pop music. But with the touring, recording and extraordinary anecdotes, there wasn’t time for an in-depth look at what she actually did for all those years: sing. She sang with warmth and emotional honesty, sometimes while battling acute stage-fright.
Part memoir, part wide-ranging exploration of the art, mechanics and spellbinding power of singing, NAKED AT THE ALBERT HALL takes in Dusty Springfield, Dennis Potter and George Eliot; Auto-tune, the microphone and stage presence; The Streets and The X Factor. Including interviews with fellow artists such as Alison Moyet, Romy Madley-Croft and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, and portraits of singers in fiction as well as Tracey’s real-life experiences, it offers a unique, witty and sharply observed insider’s perspective on the exhilarating joy and occasional heartache of singing.
Read More
Part memoir, part wide-ranging exploration of the art, mechanics and spellbinding power of singing, NAKED AT THE ALBERT HALL takes in Dusty Springfield, Dennis Potter and George Eliot; Auto-tune, the microphone and stage presence; The Streets and The X Factor. Including interviews with fellow artists such as Alison Moyet, Romy Madley-Croft and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, and portraits of singers in fiction as well as Tracey’s real-life experiences, it offers a unique, witty and sharply observed insider’s perspective on the exhilarating joy and occasional heartache of singing.
Reviews
Smart, chatty . . . [Thorn is] a sufficiently deft writer to negotiate the populist and the high-brow . . . a thought-provoking and enjoyable read
Honest and compassionate
If you care at all about pop music you should read both [Naked at the Albert Hall and Bedsit Disco Queen]
Revelatory, always entertaining . . . a genuine insider's perspective . . . Thirty years of consideration went into this quietly impressive volume, and it shows
A writer in fine voice . . . [a] cracker of a book
Thorn is the perfect analyst of our reverence for and terror of singing . . .Thorn's practical, warm tone gives her a Miss Marple-like ability to appear kindly while holding mistruths up to account . . . She is best, though, as a sympathetic guide to the singers she loves
Tracey's characterful phrasing is as persuasive on page as it is on record
Gem-like confessions that make it feel like a proper discussion. I loved it
A thoughtful and sensitive study of singing and her very English struggle with the embarrassment
A subtle, suggestive book about performance
Thorn eloquently strikes upon some profound truths about human communication as she tests the powers and limits of the human voice