Book adaptations have given us some of the most beloved movies and TV shows of all time, and the new Amazon Prime Video series “Daisy Jones & The Six” is positioned to be the next one. The show is based on the hit novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which follows the titular rock band, which is fictional but inspired by some of music’s most iconic groups. Eight of the 10 episodes have been released so far, and readers will probably be surprised by how much the show has changed from the book that inspired it. The main story is still intact, following the rise and fall of Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), Daisy Jones (Riley Keough), Camila Dunne (Camila Morrone), Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse), and company. But there are big differences to how they get to the top, how things fall apart, and where they end up landing. Reid herself said on Instagram before the premiere, “If the book is my child, the adaptation is my grandchild.”
Of course, the biggest change the show makes from the book is the format. The book is written as a fake oral history, and every person has different interpretations of the events. The show includes clips from a “Behind the Music”-style documentary, but it’s mostly told via the events of the 1970s. Plus, in the book, the cast is telling the story in the 2010s, when they are in their 60s and 70s. In the show, they’re in the late ’90s in the flash-forwards.
Another major difference is that the creators of the series wrote totally new songs for the series, keeping only a handful of the track titles for the band’s album, “Aurora.” Ahead, we’re breaking down more of the biggest changes from the book’s plot from the first few episodes.
The Growth of the Dunne Brothers Band in the Book
The show opens with Billy and Graham in Pittsburgh. In the book, they’re both in high school when they decide to start the Dunne Brothers band together (which will become The Six). In the series, Billy is out of high school already, and he seems to be a bit older when he joins a band that Graham started. Like in the series, they perform at a wide range of gigs, including a wedding where Billy and Graham see their deadbeat dad. But in the book they ignore him; in the show, Billy punches their father in the face.
The early makeup of the band is also different – and changes for different reasons. In the book, Chuck Williams is a member of the Dunne Brothers band, but he gets drafted and dies in Vietnam. In the show, Chuck Loving (Jack Romano) is a band member in Pittsburgh, but he leaves to go to dental school.
Billy and Camila’s Early Romance in the Book
In Reid’s telling, Billy and Camila meet after the wedding where Billy and Graham see their dad. Camila is working as a waitress at the hotel’s bar, and he goes over to her and asks for her number. In the series, they meet at a laundromat. Camila already knows who Billy is when they have their first encounter. In both meetings, he promises to write a song for her.
In the show, once the band decide to move to Los Angeles, Camila opts to go with them immediately. In the book, they break up when the band relocate to LA. Billy calls her when they finally sign their record contract, proposes to her, and she moves out to California to be with him.
The Six Members and the Origin of the Band’s Name in the Book
The show changes how many people are in The Six. In the book, there are six people in the band before Daisy joins, but the show eliminates Pete Loving, bringing the crew down to five. Warren Rhodes becomes Warren Rojas (Sebastian Chacon), and Eddie Loving becomes Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse).
So how do they justify the name? When the band get together to pick a name, they decide that Camila is the sixth member, thus, The Six. In the book, no one can remember why they picked the name, and they all have different reasons for it.
Daisy’s Journey to Performing in the Book
Book Daisy records her own solo album before she ever meets The Six, but it’s of covers that the record label forces her to perform. It’s not a huge hit, but it establishes her as a serious vocalist. When she links up with The Six, she’s working on her new album. Show Daisy has literally never been in a recording studio before she teams up with The Six.
How The Six Meet Teddy Price in the Book
In the book, The Six sign with Rod as their manager, and while playing shows in LA, they get noticed by legendary producer Teddy Price (played by Tom Wright in the series). But in the show, Rod (Timothy Olyphant) only gives them a little help in LA, and Billy has a chance run-in with Teddy and convinces him to let The Six play for him. Teddy loves them.
Billy Going to Rehab and the Aftermath
In both the book and show, Billy cheats on Camila on the band’s first tour, and he misses the birth of their daughter Julia, heading to rehab instead. But the aftermath of that is very different in both works. In the show, Billy leaving rehab is very dramatic, and he and Camila are tense for a long time after. He’s even too afraid to pick up baby Julia until Camila tells him to get over it. In the book, Camila and Julia go with Graham to pick up Billy, and as soon as Billy sees them he feels so grateful for his family. “I told her I would spend the rest of my life trying to be twice as good as she deserved,” he says in the novel. Camila adds, “I think you have to have faith in people before they earn it. Otherwise it’s not faith, right?”
In addition, Billy’s rehab stint in the show completely derails plans for The Six, and they immediately get dropped by their label. Eddie notes they’re basically back where they started. When Billy gets out of rehab in the Amazon Prime Video version, he decides to leave the band, and they attempt to find a replacement singer. After talking to Camila, he writes a new song and asks the band to let him back in. That song turns into “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb).” Teddy likes the song, but the label doesn’t want to take another bet on The Six. But when Teddy plays the song for Daisy, she has ideas to make it better, and their collaboration is born.
In the book, there are basically no career consequences for Billy going to rehab. He’s happy to join the band again, and The Six immediately cut a second album for the label. The record label doesn’t like it, and that’s when Teddy has the idea to bring Daisy in.
“Honeycomb” and “Look at Us Now”
Daisy’s changes to “Honeycomb” are much less extensive in the book. She mostly turns the statements of love that Billy’s written into questions. In the show, she’s pretty much completely rewritten the lyrics to “Honeycomb,” and it turns into “Look at Us Now.”
Simone and Bernie’s Relationship Is Not in the Book
In both the book and series, Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be) is a friend to Daisy who has a thriving disco career. But the series also gives Simone her own love life. In episode three, Simone meets Bernie (Ayesha Harris) at a party and they immediately connect. Bernie does not exist in the book, so that entire plot is series-exclusive. But, like the show, Simone leaves LA to pursue disco elsewhere. In the show she focuses on New York, but in the book, she travels around the world.
How Daisy Jones Joins The Six in the Book
Like in the show, Daisy’s collaboration with the band becomes a hit. Daisy is amazed to see it on a jukebox (though she’s never a waitress at a diner). In the book, The Six goes on tour to support their new album, and Daisy joins them as an opening act, coming out every night to play “Honeycomb.” Eventually, once they see how the crowd reacts to her, she becomes more integrated into their sets, and she and Billy even perform alone on stage one night. When they return from tour and begin working on a new album, it’s obvious to all of them that she should join the band, and, with Teddy’s advice, they officially invite her. They name the new group Daisy Jones & The Six because both Daisy and The Six are established already on their own, and they want to sell the collaboration front and center. While Billy isn’t thrilled about Daisy joining, he’s much less upset about it in the source material than he is in the show. On screen, Camila throws a party to push Billy into accepting Daisy into the group, and they never explain why the band is billed that way going forward.
Camila and Billy’s Family in the Book
When The Six is touring “SevenEightNine” with Daisy as their opening act, Camila is pregnant with twin girls, Susana and Maria. The twins do not yet exist in the TV series; they only have eldest daughter Julia.
Graham and Karen’s Relationship in the Book
Graham and Karen start a sexual relationship while they’re touring “SevenEightNine,” before recording for “Aurora” begins. They keep the relationship a secret from almost everyone, and even in the book’s present day, most of the band has no idea it ever happened. Graham does not have a girlfriend before he embarks on his romance with Karen in the book.
In episode eight of the show, Karen reveals to the band that she and Graham are sleeping together, and their connection is no longer a secret, which is one of the biggest changes from the source material.
Writing and Recording “Aurora” in the Book
In the book, Billy writes the song “Aurora” before the band starts recording the album as a tribute to Camila. It goes on the album essentially unchanged, a tribute to his devotion to her and their family. The show never delves into how the title track is created.
Daisy and Billy do go to Teddy’s house to work on the album in the book, but they don’t break in; he gives her the key and lets them use the guest house. Billy does end up having to go save Daisy from a drunken pool party when she misses a day of recording, but he’s with Rod, their manager. Billy ends up leaving because he’s afraid he’ll relapse, and Rod helps Daisy out.
Billy does not kiss Daisy to get her to record his song correctly in the book. Daisy also doesn’t hit another car when she has the idea for “Regret Me” (though she does have that idea in the car when she’s furious at Billy). Like in the show, the band votes to put “Regret Me” on the album, infuriating Billy. Camila says in the book that she sometimes was a little worried about the heady emotions of the music from Billy and Daisy as they’re writing and working together, but she had faith in him. She waits up after every late night session for Billy to come home. In the show, she’s always asleep.
Though Daisy and Billy still primarily write “Aurora” together in the book, the band has more input than they do in the show. One song on the album, in fact, is just Daisy singing while Karen plays the piano. Plus, Graham secretly writes a very mushy song for Karen (Reid put Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s “Our House” on her original playlist for the book, seemingly indicating it would be similar to that) that he tries to get put on the album, which Billy fully rejects. He ends up selling it to another band who makes it a hit. Karen is grateful to not have to perform it every night.
The “Aurora” Album Cover in the Book
In the book, a photographer hired by the label takes the photo of Billy and Daisy that ends up being the album cover. The cover image is mostly their torsos, and the back photo has the full band, with Daisy and Billy looking at each other. Daisy is wearing a white, nearly sheer tank top, and multiple people reflect on how empowering it was to see a woman be sexy on her own terms. In the show, Camila ends up taking the “Aurora” album cover, which is Daisy and Billy looking at each other.
The Rolling Stone Article in the Book
The reporter for Rolling Stone article about the band talks to them for the profile after “Aurora” is done in the book. The interviews take place while they’re in rehearsals for tour. The issue comes out around when the album is released, boosting both album sales and tour tickets. In the book, Daisy does tell the writer about Billy’s addiction, and Billy does give him the angle about how much they hate each other, the same way they do in the show.
Camila and Eddie in the Book
Eddie definitely has an adversarial relationship with Billy in the book, but there’s no implication that something romantic or sexual happens between him and Camila, the way there is in the show.
Daisy Running Away in the Book
In the book, Daisy runs away to Thailand. In the show, she goes to Greece. In both places, she meets a prince: Niccolo in the book, and Nicky in the show. Both the book and TV marriages between the couple are ultimately doomed amid their shared drug use, but show Nicky tries to isolate Daisy from Simone, causing a fight that never happens in the book.
Simone’s Career in the Book
In the book, Simone becomes an international disco star. In the show, she struggles more to break out, and only starts to make a name for herself in the queer scene in New York. She plays local straight clubs with Bernie, but her real joy is playing for their community.
The “Aurora” Tour in the Book
In the book, Daisy Jones & the Six are playing bigger shows that they seem to be in the series, partly because they’re more famous. Camila and the girls are also more present during the tour, visiting the band on and off.
Daisy’d Overdose in the Book
In the show, Daisy and Nicky do too much drugs, causing Daisy to pass out. Nicky puts her in the shower to try to revive her. Billy and Rod show up to help, and Nicky abandons them as Billy cradles Daisy in his arms. The shower scene does take place in the book, but it’s when the band is on a break from tour, and Daisy and Nicky are alone. She leaves him after, realizing that this road will only lead to her death.
New episodes of “Daisy Jones & The Six” stream on Fridays on Prime Video.
Related: “Daisy Jones & The Six” Introduces Daisy’s New Love Interest: Prince Nicky
