What is Daisy Jones & The Six about? Everything you need to know about the Prime Video series

If you love classic rock, dysfunctional relationships, and the glitzy ruin of the music industry in the seventies, then Daisy Jones & The Six was written for you. The Prime Video show tracks a fictional band as they ascend to fame and then destroy everything they have ever loved about it. It's an epic tale of obsession, substance abuse, creative clashes, and an all-consuming love that destroys it all.

This glamorous new series was adapted from the hit bestseller by Taylor Jenkins Reid of the same title. It debuted on Amazon Prime Video in March 2023 and not long after ranked at No.1 on the platform's charts in the US. With ten episodes, a real studio-recorded album, and a cast that actually do play the music, this show is well and truly over and above most TV dramas.

Here's what you need to know about Daisy Jones & The Six before you turn it on.

Daisy Jones & The Six - The story behind the band

A still from Daisy Jones & The Six (Source: Prime Video)

Set mainly in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Daisy Jones & The Six features two distinct yet intertwined stories. One revolves around Daisy Jones, who is coming-of-age in the LA rock scene, scribbling melodies in her mind as those around her underestimate her. The other focuses on Billy Dunne and his group, The Six, a band of PA boys trying to make it.

Bringing them together as the American band with the best-selling debut of all time is music producer named Teddy Price. Their voices complement each other. Their songwriting inspires. The chemistry is palpable, and so is the energy. The band is massive. Then, in 1977, right after a sellout gig in Chicago, they broke up. The whole series is a slow, gripping answer to the question: what really happened?

A unique aspect of Daisy Jones & The Six is the way its story is told. The show is presented as if it were a music documentary: band members are interviewed, although the story is set decades after their split, and they share their individual versions of the story, which plays out on screen in flashback.

The overall format adds an intriguing layer of tension. Every individual has a different memory. They are not all credible. Some are still in denial. The audience has to draw the jigsaw puzzle pieces together, which adds a more mysterious element to the viewing experience rather than a standard melodrama.

The cast of Daisy Jones & The Six

Riley Keough plays the titular role of Daisy Jones and is the soul of the show. Keough, granddaughter of Elvis Presley, manages to portray both the vulnerability and sense of wild, uncontrolled energy that is encapsulated by the character. Sam Claflin plays the other lead, Billy Dunne, in a complicated dynamic that influences most of the episodes.

The rest of the cast is just as good. Camilla Morrone, who plays Billy's wife, Camila, is a very active character and arguably the most level-headed person in any given situation. Suki Waterhouse portrays keyboardist Karen Sirko, Will Harrison appears as Billy's brother Graham, and Timothy Olyphant appears as band manager Rod Reyes.

The music is real

Daisy Jones & The Six is not a show where the singing is lip-synched to someone else's voice. Keough and Claflin actually sang, and the music was written and recorded by Grammy-nominated artist Blake Mills with musicians such as Jackson Browne, Marcus Mumford, and Phoebe Bridgers. The group's fictitious record, Aurora, was released by Atlantic on the day the show aired, and you can listen to it as a record.

The Fleetwood Mac connection

Daisy Jones & The Six obviously owes a debt to Fleetwood Mac in particular, the chaos and creativity that came from the recording of Rumours. Author Taylor Jenkins Reid has spoken of how the group's music influenced her while she was growing up, and how this influence permeates every episode. Two feuding lead singers. A romantic mess inside the band. Drugs, ego, mind-blowing songs born out of anguish. Sound familiar?

However, the fictional setting allows the story to breathe, without being constricted by factual history. It captures the essence that feels of that period rather than glorifying facts.

Should you watch it?

Daisy Jones & The Six received several Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for Keough, among others. The critics were mixed, but the audiences loved the series, and within hours of its release, the series climbed to number one on Prime Video.

It is not a slow burn. The episodes zip by, the soundtrack is actually good, and the acting is more than worth your time. If you have ever gone down a rabbit hole about a band's epic meltdown, this series was tailor-made for you. Just a warning, the ending will leave a mark.