Mark Bego

Mark Joseph Bego Mark Bego (born 23 September 1952, in Pontiac, Michigan) is a best selling author of top performers in the rock & roll and show business genres. By having more than 10 million books in print, Mark Bego has been acknowledged as "the prince of pop bios" - the best selling biographer in the rock and pop field.^[1] Bego has written 59 books, two of which have been New York Times Best Sellers. Bego has written biographers about some of entertainment's biggest stars, including: Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Billy Joel, Patsy Cline, Leonardo DiCaprio and many more.^[2]

Bego was the first author to report the entire life story of Whitney Houston in his 2012 book: Whitney Houston: The Spectacular Rise and Tragic Fall of the Woman Whose Voice Inspired a Generation (Skyhorse Publishing). Released both in print and on Kindle, this book is the culmination of Bego's following Houston's musical career since the diva's days as a background singer in her mother's act in Manhattan night clubs. Bego had updated his 1986 Whitney! book in 2009 for Hannibal Books in the German language as Whitney Houston: Die Biografie, so when news of Houston's death spread publicly, Bego sprang to action, to update and create this new telling of the Houston story. The book is also released in Great Britain by Plexus simply as Whitney Houston, and will be released in French-speaking Canada, and China as well. It will also be available as an audio book in the German language.

In 2012, Mark released the third and most up-to-date version of his classic book, Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul, including new details about the legendary diva's 2010-2011 health scare, and controversial facts about Aretha's early teenage pregnancies, abusive marriage, legal problems, weight problems, and celebrity feuds. It was simultaneously published in America and in Germany. In 2011, Bego co-wrote the book Where the Action Is! with 1950s and 1960s rocker Freddy Cannon, and Dick Clark wrote the introduction.

Mark Bego's book on pop legend Michael Jackson, entitled Michael! was released a week after the infamous Pepsi Cola commercial in which Jackson's hair caught fire. The book sold three million copies in the United States alone and landed on the New York Times Best Sellers for six weeks.^[3] Bego also got the chance to travel with Jackson and his brothers on the "Victory!" Tour, and subsequently wrote the book entitled On The Road With Michael!^[4]

The following year, Bego wrote the million-selling Madonna! About the pop icon. It was so popular that he has twice expanded the book as Madonna: Blonde Ambition (1992 and 2001). From 1978 to 1980 he was the Nightlife Editor for Manhattan’s Cue, covering everything from Studio 54 to all the jazz and cabaret clubs in the city. From 1983 to 1985 he was Editor-In-Chief of Modern Screen. His writing has also appeared in People, US, Billboard, Record World, Cosmopolitan, Star, and National Enquirer.

He has also written books with Micky Dolenz of The Monkees (I’m a Believer), Debbie Gibson (Between the Lines), and Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night (One is the Loneliest Number). In addition, Bego has written a book called One Minute Before Midnight with Ruth Mueller.^[5] Bego’s book subjects have ranged from Elvis Presley, Linda Ronstadt, Whitney Houston, Bonnie Raitt, Julia Roberts, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, and Jackson Browne to Cher and Bette Midler. In 1994, his more general books published included Country Gals (life stories of Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, and other famed women in country music, and Country Hunks (spotlighting Vince Gill, Billy Ray Cyrus, George Strait and others). Bego also authored the reference books TV Rock (The History of Rock & Roll on Television) and The Rock & Roll Almanac. He has also written books about Hollywood in its heyday The Best of “Modern Screen", and Rock Hudson: Public and Private. Bego wrote a memoir with Memphis Mafia member Lamar Fike called An Uncommon Journey: On Elvis Presley Boulevard. He co-wrote a screenplay based on the book called ’57 to ’60: One of the Boys.

At the height of the box-office success of the film Titanic, Bego wrote the biography of the movie’s star Leonardo DiCaprio: Romantic Hero. It spent six weeks on The New York Times best-seller list in 1998.

In 2008, Bego published his 51st pop culture book, written with Randy Jones of Village People, entitled Macho Man. Recently, Bego penned his own showbusiness memoir, Paperback Writer. Cindy Adams in The New York Post wrote about the book, "Paperback Writer...a tell-all telling things he couldn't tell in previous books — like Aretha Franklin cooking chicken, and when the chicken was finished, so was the interview." Paperback Writer hit Number Two on The Book Soup paperback Best Seller List. Bego frequently is seen on television speaking about showbusiness, on such shows as Entertainment Tonight, Biography and True Hollywood Story.

Recent news

Mark Bego released a biography of Elton John in 2009.^[6] Mark Bego himself has said of the biography, "Previous books have handled his life with kid gloves, nearly making him into a tasteful 21st century George Gershwin. In reality, Elton's life more closely parallels that of Oscar Wilde. He has been wild, glitzy, boozy, bawdy and unconventional. This is the book that every Elton John fan has been waiting for. It is filled with all of the addictions, the self-doubts, bad toupees, affairs and scandals."^[7]

In the summer of 2009, Mark Bego appeared on ABC talking about Michael Jackson's death.^[8]

External links

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References

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