Men of a Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty

by Kate Mossman

Fascinating, funny and tender' ADAM BUXTON

'My favourite writer and interviewer' JUDE ROGERS

'If Kate Mossman's name is on it, then I want to read it' PETE PAPHIDES

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 nineteen 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. As Kate travels 5,000 miles to try and find Glen Campbell, and to the depths of the Cornish countryside for a rendezvous with Roger Taylor, will she finally unravel the roots of her obsession with the elder statesmen of rock?

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

Published January 6, 2026

Reviews

[Gavin Hogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the skills of a good music writer is to make you interested in artists you'd normally dismiss. I found myself, contrary to my natural instincts, reading about Kiss, Bruce Hornsby and Sting. Kate's a music fan who recognises her own eccentricities and passions and filters her interviews through them, wanting to know more about what makes these creative and magical people tick. It's fascinating to get the under the bonnet introduction before each interview, the circumstances leading up to the magazine feature and a few of the things she couldn't put in the original piece. Highly enjoyable and a lot of fun. Who knew that you could hurt your ankle by jumping up and down too strenuously to a Hornsby guitar riff, that the psychological effect when Kiss get changed into their gear still has a weird energy to it or that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra made over $50 million in less than 2 months in 2014?

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. Kate has some canny observations and some lovely, evocative turns of phrase, without succumbing to rock journalist pretension.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains probably some of the best written descriptions of the effects of music on the human soul that I've ever read

[Garry Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these stories. It was such fun to sit with my iPhone, listening to the songs mentioned, remembering how good (or not so good) they are.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book- made me laugh, was really interesting and had such a range of people in it. Thoroughly recommend.

[Carolyn Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Kate Mossman's interviews with ageing male musicians, originally published in The Word magazine and The New Statesman. Quite unlike many music journalists, who feel the need to be more rock and roll than their subjects, Mossman's youthful obsessions with unfashionable artists like Queen and Bruce Hornsby gives her an unusual perspective when she gets to meet her heroes. The introductions to each piece are honest and fascinating, as she describes how tried to understand how her stalker-like devotion to the mulleted Roget Taylor developed, how her need to impress her dad and her joy in sharing music with him infused family life, and how her youth and gender sometimes made her middle aged/elderly heroes open up to her.

[Keith Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inconsequential stuff, too much blather about Kate Mossman (not very interesting), too little about the men of a certain age. A lot of old New Statesmen columns cobbled together does not a book make. Give me Charles Shaar Murray or Paul Morley, or even David Hepworth, who has made this sort of stuff his life's work, any day.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up as Kate Mossman's description of her own fandom / obsession with Queen in the 90s was almost spookily close to my own, although it appears mine has been somewhat more enduring. The Queen chapters are lovely but there were other hidden gems I enjoyed unexpectedly as much and its worth reading for the Cary Raditz chapter alone.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable collection of writing about/interviews with male musicians. I personally preferred the articles where the author had more of connection to the artist (Queen, Bruce Hornsby, Glen Campbell) or the artist had more to say/came across as larger than life characters (Kiss, Bon Jovi, William Orbit). But a good read.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good or interesting as hoped as the author adds a bit too much of The Word (a magazine she wrote for) music writers snobbery. I.e. only the artists I like and interview are important.
The Queen and Steve Perry chapters are enjoyable and give real fan's viewpoint of meeting musicians you admire.
Worth a read but not as good as the reviews make out.

[Andrew Macfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

the first few chapters were not very inviting. I enjoyed the first with Brian May and Roger Taylor though didn't get much impression of them or how she, Kate Mossman, now feels about them, having met them. it is worth sticking with the book as it does get better the further in you rwad

[Piers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch music journalism that made me engage with a bunch of old rock men that I can't say I was massively familiar with before. Intensely personal while still maintaining an overall objective outlook. Masterful.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come for the Queen chapter, stay for an eclectic range of codgers.

[Martijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top interviews en analyse. Het zijn natuurlijk ook maar mensen, die rocksterren. Humor