The definitive biography of Ian Dury, published on the tenth anniversary of his death. Widely described as the 'punk's poet laureate', Ian Dury is a cultural icon. With his band the Blockheads, he exploded onto the television screen in 1978, appearing on Top of the Pops. By then, Ian was thirty-six and had worked hard for many years to reach this moment, struggling all the while to find acceptance in spite of the disability he suffered as a result of childhood polio. And yet fame, when it came, almost destroyed him. This is one of the first in-depth accounts of this charismatic yet complex artist's life.