Based on new interviews and eyewitness testimonies—from former producers and managers, ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends--Is This the Real Life? is the first behind-the scenes narrative biography of one of the biggest and greatest rock bands of all time: Queen. Capturing the band’s legendary excess and looking beyond its public persona to shed light on its four wildly divergent personalities, Mark Blake explores how Freddie Mercury’s sexuality alienated some of the band’s fan base, how they reinvented themselves by morphing from hard rock to pop, and how they saw out their final years as Mercury became one of the most successful rock stars in the world.