Mark Blake has written about music and popular culture since 1989 and is the author of six books. The latest, Us And Them: The Authorised Story Of Hipgnosis, is about the rock-star designers behind the sleeve for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon and other world-famous artworks.

Blake’s previous books include Magnifico! The A-Z Of Queen and Bring It On Home, a biography of Led Zeppelin’s notorious manager Peter Grant, and a Music Book Of The Year in The Times, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, The Observer and Daily Telegraph in 2018. His first biography, the best-selling Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd was published in 2007, updated in 2013 and 2017, and awarded the Guardian’s Paperback Of The Week.

Blake has also contributed to official projects for Queen, The Who, the Jimi Hendrix estate and Pink Floyd, including 2017’s Their Mortal Remains exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. He has drunk mint tea with Dave Grohl, eaten baked beans with Ozzy Osbourne, shared a stretch limousine with Stevie Nicks and once stopped Keith Richards from falling down a flight of stairs. He works in a shed and lives just outside London with his wife and son.