Stuart Bailie launches crowdfunding campaign for new music book The Song is Nearly Over

Renowned music journalist and Hot Press contributor Stuart Bailie has launched a crowdfunding campaign ahead of his upcoming music book The Song is Nearly Over (out November 6).

The Belfast author has crosses paths with a number of prominent figures in the music industry, including Nina Simone, Björk, Sinéad O’Connor, Dave Grohl, Tom Waits and Shane MacGowan.

The Song is Nearly Over is a collection of stories that Bailie has complied after 40 years in the business. The book is described as having "insights and shenanigans, a record of fast times in popular culture," according to a statement.

"He charts the rise of Radiohead and messy times with Oasis. There is road fever with Primal Scream and U2. The Manic Street Preachers suffer pain and achieve transcendence. Stuart documents a passing era of access and friction, critique and acclaim."

Bailie's other works include 2018's Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland, Terri Hooley: Seventy-Five Revolutions (2023), 75 Van Songs (2020) and The Ballad of the Thin Man: The Authorised Biography of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy (1997).

Additionally, he is the co-founder Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast.

The Song is Nearly Over's book launch will take place at Deer’s Head, Belfast on November 6. The event will include appearances from Ash's Tim Wheeler and Terri Hooley.

• You can support Bailie's crowdfunding efforts here.