Daisy Jones & The Six was an American rock band. The group formed from a collaboration between singer-songwriter Daisy Jones and rock band The Six, formed in Pittsburgh in 1967 by Billy Dunne (vocals) and Graham Dunne (guitar). The band was originally called The Dunne Brothers before renaming themselves to The Six in 1970 and to Daisy Jones & The Six in 1977.

As The Six, the band released two studio albums - The Six (1974) and SevenEightNine (1976). Jones joined the band for a full-abum collaboration in 1978 after being featured on hit single "Honeycomb" (1976), which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. As Daisy Jones & The Six, they released the album Aurora (1978), which topped the Billboard 200 chart.

Daisy Jones & The Six disbanded acrimoniously on July 13, 1979 after a perfomance at the Chicago stadium at the height of their popularity. Many bandmembers were at odds throughout the Aurora World Tour, with Jones and Billy Dunne specifically having a frought working relationship. The incident is known as one of the most famous music group breakups of all time.

Daisy Jones & The Six remains a staple of U.S. classic rock radio airplay. Aurora recieved multi-platinum certifications and is one of the best selling albums of all time.

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1967–1970: Formation and early years as the Dunne Brothers

Brothers Billy Dunne and Graham Dunne formed the Dunne Brothers in Pittsburgh, PA. The brothers began writing songs together when Billy was 15 and Graham was 13. In 1967, they invited local peers Warren Rhodes (drums), Pete Loving (bass), and Chuck Williams (rhythm guitar) to join their band. The group got their start playing local gigs, at one of which Billy Dunne met and began dating Camila Martinez (as she was then known). In 1969 Williams was drafted in the Vietnam War. During his absence, he was temporarily replaced by Pete Loving's brother, Eddie Loving. Williams died in combat at the age of 20. After Williams' death, Eddie Loving became the Dunne Brothers' permament rhythm guitarist.

In 1970, the Dunne Brothers played in Baltimore, at which Rick Marks of the Winters was in attendance. Marks, impressed by their performance, invited the band to open for their current tour. While touring with the Winters, the Dunne Brothers became acquainted with the Winters' keyboardist Karen Karen. The Dunne Brothers were intrigued by her skill and unique additions to the Winters' music and Karen was fed up with her treatment by the Winters. The Dunne Brothers were easily able to persuade her to leave the Winters and join them as their keyboardist.

1970–1974: Name change to The Six and debut

Shortly after the addition of Karen Karen, the band changed their name to The Six. The band continued to play local east coast venues until 1971, when the group met band manager Rod Reyes at one of their performances in New York City. Under Reyes' management, The Six began performing all along the East Coast and gained a dedicated regional following. During this period, Billy Dunne wrote the songs "Señora" and "When the Sun Shines on You" about Camila Martinez, which were recorded as demos. in 1972, the band decided to move to Los Angeles. Billy Dunne and Camila Martinez broke up and Martinez stayed in Pittsburgh.

The Six quickly gained attention in the Hollywood music scene. Not long after their move to Los Angeles, the band was scouted by producer Teddy Price for Runner Records and shortly afterwards was offered a recording and publishing deal with Price personally producing their first album. Billy Dunne and Camila Martinez reconciled and Martinez agreed to move to Los Angeles to marry Dunne. The band, along with Martinez, moved into a house in Topanga Canyon and began recording their debut self-titled album The Six.

The Six debuted in March 1974 to positive acclaim, with critics calling it "an auspicious start"^[1] and "Señora" making the Billboard Hot 100. A thirty-city tour was announced. The night before the band was to depart on their tour Martinez announced her pregnancy, and she and Billy Dunne got married that same night. The Six Tour was a success: dates were extended twice and the band joined Rick Yates' tour as his opening act. During the tour, Dunne, who was already showing signs of alcoholism, began abusing cocaine, heroin, and other hard drugs, as well as having multiple affairs with fans unbeknownst to Camila. During a surprise visit, Camila discovered Billy in a sexual situation with a fan and told him that he had until the birth of their daughter to clean up. On November 28, 1974, Camila went into labor early and Billy, too under the influence to meet his newborn daughter Julia, opted instead to go to drug rehabilitation.^[2] The remaining dates of the tour were cancelled.

1975–1977: First collaboration with Jones

Billy Dunne left rehab in early 1975 and began working on The Six's next album. The band recorded their sophmore album, SevenEightNine, from June to December 1975. However, Runner Records struggled to pinpoint a standout single on the album. To solve this problem, Teddy Price suggested turning "Honeycomb", then a solo, into a duet with a female guest vocalist. Price suggested Daisy Jones, who was also signed with Runner Records and whose debut album, First, was also produced by Price. Friction between Jones and Billy Dunne was apparent from the very first recording session of "Honeycomb". Dunne had originally written the song's lyrics to read:

However, while recording Jones rewrote these lyrics to:

Dunne had written the song for his wife Camila as a promise for their future life together, and he disapproved of Jones' choice to make the lyrics less certain of that future. Karen Karen stated that "'Honeycomb' used to be a song about security, and it became a song about insecurity."^[2] Despite Dunne's misgivings, Price loved the new version of the song. SevenEightNine released on June 1, 1976 with "Honeycomb" debuting at No. 83 and peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In preparation for the album's upcoming tour The Six played a residency at Whiskey a Go Go, the majority of shows without Jones. After a surprise guest appearance from Jones at the Whiskey was a smashing success, The Numbers Tour was annouced in mid 1976, with Jones to perform as the opening act. The tour was a massive success, with The Six and Jones performing "Honeycomb" on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

The day of a performance in Glasgow, Jones fired her manager Hank Allen, whom she was in a relationship with at the time. Allen left with Jones' backing band, leaving her without musicians for her opening act. Eddie Loving instead accompanied Jones on the acoustic guitar. Jones' set concluded with Billy Dunne coming onstage to accompany her on guitar for "Honeycomb", and Jones spontanoeusy stayed onstage with The Six to sing throughout the rest of the performance. Jonah Berg, journalist for Rolling Stone, was in attendance. The band featured on that month's cover of Rolling Stone, and in his article Berg suggested that Jones be made a permanent member of The Six^[3] - a sentiment that was popular with readers but had some pushback from Dunne.

This performance at Glasgow marked the beginning of Loving's growing animosity towards Dunne, as Dunne had taken his personal guitar to perform "Honeycomb". It was also during this leg of the tour that Graham Dunne and Karen Karen began a relationship.^[2] The Six declined an extension of the tour and returned to Los Angeles in early 1977. After some deliberation, the band decided to collaborate with Jones on one full album before deciding whether or not to make her a permanent member of the band. To represent Jones' inclusion, Runner Records renamed the group to Daisy Jones & The Six.

1977–1979: Aurora and global success

Daisy Jones & The Six began recording their new collaborative album, titled Aurora, in August 1977. Billy Dunne wrote the song "Aurora" as the core to build the album around, and he and Jones co-wrote the rest of the album over a period of four months. The two proved to be an effective writing team. However, Jones and Dunne were known to clash, as Jones believed that Dunne only wrote about his wife, while Dunne was frustrated by Jones' dependence on substances, and the two frequently argued. In one instance of conflict, Jones wrote the song "Regret Me" about Dunne, who was outvoted when lobbying for its exclusion from the album and refused to be present for its initial recording.^[2] While Jones and Dunne were writing, the rest of the band members were permitted to compose their own instrumentals, making Aurora significant in that it was the first piece by the band that was fully collaborative. For the previous two albums, Billy Dunne had been The Six's sole songwriter and composer, and Aurora marked the band's departure from his style. Dunne was known to be protective of the band's sound and the loss of control over Aurora was difficult for him, leading to growing tension between Dunne and his bandmates, especially Eddie Loving. This was increased when, during post-production, Dunne and Teddy Price altered the instrumentals without the band's knowledge.

Aurora was released on June 13, 1978, 1978, with lead single "Turn It Off" debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song quickly jumped to No. 1, where it stayed for four weeks and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. The album quickly recieved universal acclaim, selling 200,000 units weekly through the summer.

Shortly after the album's release, the Aurora World Tour was announced. During the period of time between recording and tour rehearsals, Jones met and married Niccolo Argento, an Italian prince. By the time rehearsals began, Jones and Dunne were no longer on speaking terms. During and interview with Jonah Berg, Jones and Dunne told Berg about their difficult working relationship, with Dunne famously saying that "Talent like Daisy's is wasted on people like Daisy".^[4] Berg's article, "Daisy Jones & The Six: Are Billy Dunne and Daisy Jones Rock 'n' Roll's Biggest Foes?" released in Rolling Stone the same week as Aurora, and was instrumental in heightening Aurora's pop culture influence.

During a break from the tour in January, 1978, Jones divorced Argento. During this period, Jones and Dunne began to mend their relationship. Shortly after their Grammy win, the band filmed their performance of "Impossible Woman" at Madison Square Garden. The band was featured on Saturday Night Live, performing "Turn It Off" and "A Hope Like You". At this time, "Young Stars" had reached No. 7 on the charts. While on tour, Teddy Price died of a heart attack, leading to a three week pause in the tour as the band mourned.

1979: Breakup

Daisy Jones & The Six played their final performance on July 12, 1979 at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. During the performance, the band played "Honeycomb" for the first time in over a year. Jones chose to perform the lyrics as Dunne had originally written them.

After the concert had concluded, Billy Dunne broke his sobriety and fell off of the wagon. Camila Dunne, seeing that Dunne and Jones' relationship was negatively impacting both of them, encouraged Jones leave the band and seek out drug rehabilitation. After Jones's departure, Dunne announced that he was taking a break from the tour, leading to its cancellation. Other conflicts between band members came to a head. Eddie Loving, angered by the tour's cancellation, refused to work with Dunne further. In the weeks leading up to the performance in Chicago, Karen Karen discovered she was pregnant and chose to get an abortion and end her relationship with Graham Dunne, damaging their working relationship. Pete Loving had proposed to his long-time girlfriend Jenny Manes and had already decided to leave the band once the tour concluded.

Daisy Jones & The Six officially disbanded on July 13, 1979. The band has never performed together or been seen together since their disbandment. Jones left the music industry permanently and went on to become and author and philanthropist, founding the Wild Flower Initiative. Billy Dunne signed a publishing deal with Runner Records in 1981 and works as a songwriter for pop artists. Eddie Loving became a record producer. Karen Karen continued her career as a touring keyboardist until she retired in the late 1990's. Rhodes married actress Lisa Crowne. Graham Dunne left the music industry and founded hot sauce company Dunne Burnt My Tongue Off.

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Aurora is one of the best selling albums of all time. After its release, Aurora was a pop culture phenomenon. It achieved universal acclaim, with critics claiming that "For every moment in your life, in 1978, Aurora could play in the background"^[5]. The album was praised for its emotional complexity and intimate feel. It's popularity was heightened by the infamy of Jones and Dunne's frought relationship. Fans often speculated about whether Dunne and Jones were having an affair.

Rolling Stone ranked Aurora on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, with several songs from the album also featuring on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, inclding "Turn It Off, "Honeycomb", and "This Could Get Ugly". Aurora recieved multi-platinum certifications, and sold another three million copies when released on CD.

Until the release of Julia Dunne-Rodriguez's tell-all biography, Daisy Jones & The Six, the reason for the band's sudden break-up was largely unknown. Dunne-Rodriguez's biography significantly expanded upon the history of the band, being the first and only time the band commented on their history together.

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Final Lineup:

• Billy Dunne - lead vocals (1967-1979)
• Graham Dunne - lead guitar (1967-1979)
• Warren Rhodes - drums (1967-1979)
• Pete Loving - bass guitar (1967-1979)
• Eddie Loving - rhythm guitar (1970-1979)
• Karen Karen - keyboard (1970-1979)
• Daisy Jones - lead vocals (1977-1979)

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The Six discography:

• The Six (1974)
• SevenEightNine (1976)

Daisy Jones & The Six discography:

• Aurora (1978)

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Grammy Awards

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• Daisy Jones discography

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• Dunne Rodriguez, Julia. Daisy Jones & The Six. Ballantine Books, 2013. ISBN 978-1-5247-9862-8.
• Chang, Elaine. Daisy Jones: Wild Flower.

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• Aurora song lyrics