Listed as one of the best-selling books of 2019, with over one million copies sold, then four years later hitting number one on Amazon Prime Video’s top ten list in the U.S., then making it to number one on iTunes with an album, “Daisy Jones and The Six” captivated the attention of multiple audiences.
Said to be loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the story follows the 70’s rock band through their rises and falls of the making of music, addiction, internal rivalry and affairs.
The book gathered an initial following and as a show grew to be considered one of the “Best Amazon Prime Shows” by Rotten Tomatoes, Wired and Vulture.
Forbes Magazine stated, “The series is technically about a fictional band based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid – which just climbed to No. 1 on Amazon’s bestsellers list – but this group of actors morphed into a real band during filming.”
The cast became a band, went to band camp and truly played their instruments and sang on the recorded music heard in the show. The cast has also stated that if asked by the show’s executives, they would go on tour and do live performances of the music.
While the show topped book and TV charts, the band’s album “Aurora” also topped music charts. Although they are technically a fictional band, this album was released and produced just like a real band’s album would be. Being able to stream songs from the show brings to life the cinematic universe created by the author of the book, Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Reid, who was also one of the producers of the series, has created this universe within her books with interconnected characters, familial bloodlines and left “easter eggs” for readers to indulge in. Two books with connections to “Daisy Jones and The Six” are “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and “Malibu Rising,” which readers can also anticipate upcoming screen adaptations of.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone to go film my book exactly as it is,” Reid told Variety Magazine.
Although it is almost guaranteed that any sort of adaptation will have changes, the changes in this page-to-screen adaptation differed and can be said to have enhanced the show. Both the tv series and the book are in documentary format, with a narrator asking questions and the band members reflecting on their time in the band answering the questions. Where they differ is that the book is written like a script where readers only read what each member said occurred, whereas in the show viewers are not only able to see what each member said occurred, which similarly aligns with the script of the book, but they are also able to see what happened with flashback scenes that show the truth of the past, allowing for more details and surprises not shown within the book to be seen.
“Oh my gosh, yes I read the book and I absolutely loved the show,” one GSU student said upon being asked their opinion of “Daisy Jones and The Six.”
Another side of the show that has been brought to life is the fashion aspect. With 70’s fashion being a focal point, Free People and the show collaborated to make a “Daisy Jones and The Six” capsule collection with pieces inspired by 70’s rock influences. Costume designer Denise Wingate said she immediately thought of Free People when she started the show, so it is no surprise that this capsule captures its essence.
From fashion to chart-topping albums, this show and book bring multiple aspects of this fictional world to real life and has attracted audiences of various kinds.
