ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature and application of the concepts of auteur and star in popular music. I then provide capsule biographies of a number of popular music figures who provide a range of examples of the auteur/star: record producer Phil Spector; the iconoclastic composer and musician, Frank Zappa; Bruce Springsteen, the biggest white rock star since Elvis; Madonna, whose ability to reinvent herself has kept her life and music hugely popular for twenty years; Shania Twain, who has taken her country music into the mainstream; British dance pop phenomenon of the late 1990s, the Spice Girls; and the multiple identities of Norman Cook (Fat Boy Slim).
