Bare Werner, by Thor-Egil Danielsen

Norwegian singer and entertainer Jan Werner Danielsen passed away in September 2006. This biography, written by his father, gives a parent's point of view on the childhood, life and career of an extremely talented singer.

Alrighty then - I bought this book on a 60% sale, but odds are I would've bought it anyways. When we moved here from good ol' Wake County, NC, US of A, I became somewhat fascinated every time I heard him on the radio or saw him on television. At first, I just thought "the songs totally blow, but damn can he sing". This immediately transitioned into "That dude would be the perfect power metal singer. He'd be my first choice as a singer in a power metal band, seeing as how Roy Khan is sorta' busy with Kamelot". Of course, even if I had the time and inclination to get a power metal band going and had given him a call back in, say, 2005, there's no way he'd even have answered my call. In the unlikely event that he'd taken my call, he'd probably have dismissed the idea immediately, and on the infinitesimal chance that he'd accepted, I seriously doubt that any record label would've picked up an unknown metal band fronted by a musical/gospel/Eurovision/pop singer whose most famous works include covers of Celine Dion and Chess songs. Oh well. The idea of Jan Werner the power metal singer ain't that far fetched though; checketh him out doing "Holy Diver" by Dio:

Back to the biography. The part of the book dedicated to Jan Werner's childhood is perhaps a little bit too colored by parental pride, and so some of the stories appear to have grown for each time they're told, the end result being somewhat hard to believe at times. However, this turns into what appears to be brutal honesty regarding Jan Werner's adult life and career, like how he squandered his money, struggled with depression, low self-esteem and alcoholism. It's a good read.