In a major rewriting of the book, Icons of Rock is a testament in “write what you know,” delving into the drive to create, the importance of nurturing creativity, the role of unconscious influences and the effects of chemicals, alcohol and drugs on the creative process. Among the music legends included are Eric Clapton, Julian Lennon, Don Henley, Keith Richard, Ringo Starr, Steve Winwood, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, John Lee Hooker and many others. It also shines a light on the creative process of several artists who are no longer with us, among them George Harrison, David Crosby, Ravi Shankar, Warren Zevon and Christine McVie to whom she dedicates the new book. “I had spent the last twenty-something years surrounded by talented musicians and had watched them playing their instruments and creating songs,” Boyd explains in the book’s introduction. “I was immersed in their world and had witnessed their creative process first hand. Whether it was watching Paul, George and John sitting on the roof of our bungalow in India creating songs that were later to appear on The White Album, or Fleetwood Mac searching for lyrics in the communal house we shared in Hampshire, or sitting in the studio a few years later in Sausalito making their mega-hit album Rumours, it always left me wondering what it must feel like to be so creative.” Rather than use portions of the 65 interviews in topical chapters as she had done previously, Boyd returned to the original transcripts of the interviews she conducted and has included them in their entirety under each of the artists’ own name. She has also added interviews with four newer musicians—Eg White, Jacob Collier, Atticus Ross and Sarah Warwick—to illustrate the difference in the music world today compared to the late 1980’s when her original interviews were conducted. “Each one of the artists I interviewed experienced and talked about what psychologist Abraham Maslow termed ‘Peak Experience’ –the uniting of unconscious experience with conscious while writing, playing their instrument or singing,” Boyd explains. “They all attached such emotions as wonder, awe, reverence, humility and surrender while describing this feeling of being ‘in the zone,’ and yet they had never talked about it before. They also openly discussed their thoughts on drugs and alcohol, and their belief that everyone had the potential to be creative.” Raised in Kenya, she discovered her love of writing at an early age as a way of expressing her innermost feelings. She, along with her sister Pattie, were among London’s top fashion models in the pivotal 1960’s and witnessed the evolving British music scene first hand. As Beatle George Harrison’s sister-in-law, Jenny accompanied The Beatles on their well-documented trip to India to study meditation, worked in The Beatles’ London shop Apple, helped run a clothing boutique in San Francisco’s North Beach during the momentous “Summer of Love” and was the inspiration for Donovan’s famous song, “Jennifer Juniper.” She became part of the chaotic 1970’s travelling circus that was Fleetwood Mac while married to the band’s drummer Mick Fleetwood (twice). While living in Los Angeles and looking to develop her own voice and identity, Jenny enrolled in college, achieving a Masters in Counseling Psychology and a PhD in Humanities. She worked as a consultant for an addictions treatment center in Arizona and founded Spring Workshops, organizing psychotherapeutic groups for people in need of personal development. She has become a sought-after speaker on the subject of musicians, culture and creativity. Jenny Boyd’s memoir, Jennifer Juniper: A journey beyond the muse, was published in 2020. “Musicians and their creative process is still a magical component to me, even after all these years,” Boyd says. “As I worked on the interviews, I couldn’t help but feel enormously privileged to have had the opportunity to hear these musicians describe what it’s like to play onstage in front of thousands, or to write a song and not know where the words came from, to hear about the magic of the muse or describe a transcendence of self. For most, it appears to be the greatest feeling of integration they experience in life, where they feel more at peace with themselves, more complete.” Icons of Rock—In Their Own Words is published by Bonnier Books in the UK and by Mango Publishing in the United States and available from both traditional and internet retailers. Jenny will launch Icons of Rock in the U.S. at the annual 50th Anniversary NYC Fest for Beatles Fans (https://www.thefest.com/) in New York, February 9-11, 2024. | 
