Adele touches the hearts of millions of people who love her for her music and share the real and honest emotion she brings to each and every song. In a cynical age, she is a phenomenon. In Adele, bestselling biographer Sean Smith talks to those close to her as he follows her astonishing journey to fame that began on the gritty streets of Tottenham. Through compelling new research and interviews, he reveals that there is far more to Adele than the superstar we all think we know. He uncovers the story of her complex family relationships; the ill-starred love affair between her mother and father; her devastation at the untimely death of her grandfather; and her seemingly unpromising future in a gang-ravaged area of South London. She found salvation at the BRIT School before a series of unhappy love affairs provided the inspiration for her record-breaking albums. He describes how she conquered America and how it all could have been ended by a dramatic vocal injury. Instead, she has made an amazing comeback and found personal happiness in a new relationship and becoming a mum. Intimate and revealing, Adele is the uplifting story of the woman with the most glorious voice in the world.
Jennifer Aniston's story has touched the hearts of men and women around the world. At the height of her TV fame Jennifer fell in love with Brad Pitt. They married in 2000 becoming Hollywood's golden couple. After four years, however, her life became a nightmare when she and Pitt split. This book examines how she is fighting back.
From bestselling biographer Sean Smith comes the fascinating and tumultuous true story behind Sir Tom Jones, the nation''s treasure, sage of The Voice and living music legend. Celebrating his 75th birthday this year, Tom Jones'' life has been an unforgettable rollercoaster ride. From starting out in a little Welsh mining town where he married his sweetheart at just 16, who could have known that seven years later he would go on to become a major musical hit that would propel him to Bel Air? Through intimate interviews, Smith uncovers all this and more, including the years Tom spent as little more than a Vegas lounge singer, before being rediscovered in the late ''80s and becoming a maestro on the music scene once again. As revealing as it is entertaining, this is the definitive story of a great talent who is showing no signs of slowing down.
''Compelling new biography'' Daily Express ''Fascinating stories'' Daily Mirror ''A well-researched, entertaining look at Ed Sheeran ... Sheeran fans will relish this well-told biography.'' Publishers Weekly Ed Sheeran is a true inspiration. His moving and uplifting songs forge a lasting connection with the millions of people around the world who love him and his music. He was the thirteen-year-old guitarist in a school rock band when he decided to become a singer-songwriter, even though he could barely hold a tune and had never written a song. Within a year, he had recorded an album in his bedroom. Bestselling biographer Sean Smith traces the astonishing journey of the shy little boy with a stammer who, avoiding flashy showmanship, grew up to be a global phenomenon. Through compelling new research and interviews, he tells the story of Ed''s remarkable mum and dad who gave their son the courage to pursue his dream, the friends and mentors who encouraged him and the lovers who inspired his most famous songs. Smith describes the setbacks Ed faced before his fortunes were transformed by Elton John''s management company, a record deal and a song that changed everything - with a little help from Taylor Swift. Ed found it difficult to cope with the world at his feet, but a new relationship with a girl from his home town has brought him happiness and a fresh purpose in life. Now he is the most successful solo star on the planet, earning £83 million last year. Yet in the middle of his record-breaking 2018 UK tour, he played for just 400 people at a charity night to raise money for the homeless. As this captivating book reveals, there''s no one quite like Ed.
Bestselling biographer Sean Smith takes on the world''s number one reality star, Kim Kardashian West. This is the ultimate insight into the reality behind the woman who has defined fame in our modern culture - her childhood, her family, her turbulent love life and the multi-millionaire lifestyle. Kim Kardashian West is a thoroughly modern woman. She enjoyed a privileged upbringing in a Beverley Hills mansion and, ironically, her childhood ambition was to appear in the long-running US reality series Real World. Instead she became the star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians while her own life story read like an X rated version of Dynasty...murder, elopement, domestic violence, sex tape, quickie divorce, churchgoing and impossibly glamorous designer dresses. Now married to one of the biggest stars on the planet, Kanye West, she has begun her own dynasty with the birth of daughter, North, and her son, Saint. In a world that follows her every move, Sean Smith uncovers what it took to get her to the top and how she intends to stay there. From her Armenian heritage and devotion to her family to the fabulous fashions and a body to die for, this is the truth behind the undisputed Queen of celebrity - the real story.
Meghan Misunderstood is a pioneering book that sets the record straight on the most talked about, unfairly vilified and misrepresented woman in the world. Meghan was eleven when she first advocated for women''s rights; a teenager when she worked in a soup kitchen feeding the homeless; a popular actress when she campaigned for clean water in Africa and passionately championed gender equality in a speech to a United Nations Women''s Conference. Even before she met Prince Harry, hers was an extraordinarily accomplished life. Meghan''s wedding to Harry was a joyful occasion, marking happiness at last for the Queen''s grandson who had captured our hearts twenty years earlier when he bravely walked behind his mother Diana''s coffin. Theirs was a story that the screenwriters of Hollywood - where Meghan had made her name - could scarcely have imagined. The rom-com fantasy, however, soon turned into disturbing drama: any expectation of a life happily-ever-after was cruelly dashed by bullying tabloid newspapers and their allies, both on social media and within the walls of the Palace itself. Meghan was targeted for her gender, her race, her nationality and her profession. The abuse became so bad that seventy-two female MPs signed a letter of solidarity against the ''often distasteful and misleading press'', calling out the ''outdated colonial undertones'' of the stories. Now, Sean Smith, the UK''s leading celebrity biographer, pulls no punches as he reveals the remarkable and powerful story of this self-made, intelligent American woman with a strong social conscience who has made such an impact on our lives.
Il est l'un des plus grands chanteurs de sa génération. Et la preuve que le talent finit toujours par payer.
Ed Sheeran a décidé de devenir chanteur-auteur-compositeur à l'âge de treize ans, alors qu'il jouait de la guitare dans un groupe de rock de son collège. À l'époque, il savait à peine chanter et n'avait jamais écrit de chanson. Un an plus tard, il avait enregistré son tout premier album, seul dans sa chambre.
Comment cet adolescent autrefois timide et bègue est-il devenu le phénomène mondial et le showman que l'on connaît aujourd'hui ? À travers ses recherches et ses interviews, Sean Smith, spécialiste des stars de la chanson, retrace l'histoire d'Ed et de ses parents dévoués qui ont toujours encouragé et soutenu leur fils. De ses premiers concerts dans la rue à sa rencontre avec Taylor Swift - qui a tout changé - en passant par la société de gestion d'Elton John et le contrat avec sa première maison de disques, découvrez l'incroyable histoire de ce garçon comme tout le monde mais qui ne ressemble à personne.
À propos de l'auteur Présenté par le grand quotidien britannique The Independent comme un chroniqueur intrépide et un enquêteur méticuleux, SEAN SMITH est le biographe le plus en vue du Royaume-Uni. Traduits dans le monde entier, ses livres dévoilent l'intimité de grandes icônes telles que Adele, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake ou encore Jennifer Aniston en veillant toujours à montrer l'être humain qui se cache derrière la star.
Cet ouvrage consacré à l'adaptation de l'habitat aux menaces qui pèsent sur notre planète est une combinaison des genres. Beau livre par ses dimensions et sa mise en valeur visuelle, il s'adresse aussi bien aux acteurs du bâtiment qui souhaitent adopter une démarche plus écologique qu'au grand public en quête d'idées inspirantes qui font envie et donnent de l'espoir. C'est en outre un appel à l'action pour se mettre au diapason des urgences mondiales ; et, enfin, le témoignage au travers de cent cinquante exemples d'une créativité bouillonnante, et souvent ingénieuse, qui n'attend qu'à se mettre au service d'un monde meilleur.
Pour mettre de l'ordre dans cette profusion de projets, certains très audacieux et d'autres pleins de bon sens, le livre a fait l'objet d'un découpage en dix-neuf verbes correspondant à dix-neuf stratégies architecturales. Les chapitres, intitulés « respirer », « coopérer », « démocratiser », « remplir », « flotter », « imprimer », « transformer », « tisser »... invitent le lecteur à un tour du monde des expériences, des prototypes et des solutions efficaces déjà mises en oeuvre, et sont l'occasion d'entendre les architectes expliciter leur démarche. Implantées sur les cinq continents, depuis les quartiers chic d'Amsterdam jusqu'aux camps de réfugiés sahraouis en Algérie et aux îles menacées par la montée des eaux, ces maisons d'un genre nouveau émanent de tous types d'acteurs.
Grâce au travail de recueil d'expériences mené par les deux auteurs, on comprend qu'une révolution architecturale est en cours, qui s'intéresse à toutes les dimensions du bâti : rapport au paysage et à l'environnement, économie, matériaux, confort, aménagement intérieur, climatisation, autonomie, efficacité énergétique, accessibilité, etc. Et qu'étant donné la performance des matériaux et technologies modernes, la seule limite à l'innovation est l'imagination des concepteurs.
Un livre de format compact à l'intention des enfants de plus de 3 ans, avec des autocollants réutilisables pour compléter les scènes imagées sur le thème du football.
Des centaines d'autocollants représentant des footballeurs, leurs tenues, leurs supporters et bien sûr des ballons pour compléter les scènes très détaillées. Tous les autocollants sont réutilisables et un grand rabat de la couverture permet de les ranger.
Les pages aux illustrations colorées de ce livre sont remplies de labyrinthes et de défis à relever qui captiveront les amateurs d'espionnage.
Infiltrer des bases ultra-secrètes, se faufiler entre des faisceaux laser et une évasion entraînant une course-poursuite font partie des missions d'espionnage à accomplir en parcourant les labyrinthes illustrés de ce livre. Au fil des pages, les indices deviennent de plus en plus compliqués, de simples empreintes de pas dans la neige au déchiffrage de codes secrets. Toutes les réponses figurent à la fin de l'ouvrage.
DISCOVER MORE: TITANIC focuses on the key events leading up to the moment the ship hit the iceberg. Filled with unique, specially commissioned artwork and moving eyewitness accounts from survivors that help the reader understand their troubles in the countdown to disaster. Comes with a free digital book featuring extra content.
Désormais réuni avec son père et membre des Avengers, la vie du jeune Nova est au top ! Sauf qu'un terrible mensonge risque d'éclater au grand jour... Par Sean Ryan et Cory Smith. (Contient les épisodes US Nova (2013) 1-6).
