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Pop Scars

A memoir on fame, addiction and the dark side of 90s pop

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Pop Scars

By: Anthony Kavanagh
Narrated by: Anthony Kavanagh
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About this listen

The shocking, tell-all memoir from '90s popstar and heart-throb formerly known as Kavana

Born in Manchester in 1977, Anthony Kavanagh's rise to fame was stratospheric, scoring a record deal at the age of just eighteen and winning the much-coveted Smash Hits Male Artist of the Year Award in 1997, all the while achieving top ten hits, appearing on countless magazine covers, performing on Top of the Pops and gigging alongside the Spice Girls. The stuff that dreams are made of.

But Anthony - or Kavana as he came to be known - was also trying to keep his sexuality a secret while navigating his way through an industry where image was everything; where his success depended on him having to be exactly who he wasn't.

What followed was a dark and dangerous spiral into addiction, an illness that would insidiously follow and baffle him for years to come. Pop Scars is a story told with fearless honesty that's at times as funny as it is heartbreaking, chronicling the highs, the lows, the self-destruction and the chaos of hitting rock bottom and then finding out that rock bottom has a basement.

Thirty years on, Anthony is ready to tell his jaw-dropping story. Pop Scars is a book about teenage stardom, fame, addiction, grief and - ultimately - survival and sobriety.

©2025 Anthony Kavanagh (P)2025 Bonnier Books UK
Entertainment & Celebrities Mental Health Music Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Memoir Funny Heartfelt
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Most relevant
Honest funny raw , not just a story of pop scars, but a story of a journey of ones soul through this roller coaster of a life, makes one feel less alone in dark times.

Loved it ! 5 stars

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I loved this story, Kavana’s story is raw honest vulnerable soul bearing and still full of hope he has a love and compassion for all the people that have crossed his path and has never given up faith and hope that things will get better xx loved it 5 out of 5 xx

Pop Scars and All

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A Work of Honesty, Grace, and Literary Power

Anthony Kavanagh’s Pop Scars is one of the most powerful and important memoirs I have come across. It is written to a very high literary standard, and above all, it is marked by a truthfulness and authenticity that is rare in this genre.

Listening to the Audible edition, read in Kavanagh’s own Manchester voice, adds a moving dimension. His delivery is persuasive, unvarnished, and deeply human—making the experience feel as though one is in direct conversation with him.

What sets this memoir apart is the courtesy it shows to the reader. Kavanagh never burdens us with unnecessary detail, but edits with precision, keeping the narrative consistently engaging. He credits us with intelligence, and in doing so, strengthens the impact of his story.

The book also offers something larger than a personal account of addiction and the music industry. It is about family, connection, and the vital difference between counterfeit care—the shallow gestures of parties and celebrity circles—and real care, which may be modest but is life-giving.

This is an extraordinary achievement, honest and beautifully told. For anyone seeking insight into addiction, recovery, and the resilience of the human spirit, Pop Scars is essential listening.

Brilliant and very entertaining

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