Ian Rankin: Lockdown may have ended my dreams of rock 'n' roll stardom

Crime writer Ian Rankin relies on music to produce his best-selling novels but fears that lockdown may have killed off his own rock star aspirations.

The author of the Inspector Rebus whodunnits is lead singer in a five-piece band called "Best Picture'', which also features Bluebells guitarist Bobby Bluebell. They released their debut single "Isabelle" in 2017 and made their live debut the following year.

But Rankin revealed it has now been over two years since their last gig due to Covid and admitted he may have to accept his singing days are numbered.

Speaking at the launch of Edinburgh's newest record shop, Thorne Records, in the capital's Bruntsfield Place, he said: "I was very aware during lockdown that although I could sit and work and produce something, if you were a musician that was much harder because you didn't have the live venues and you couldn't go and do the paying gigs anymore.

In a spin: Covid lockdown may have ended Ian Rankin's plans for rock and roll fame. Pic: Mike Day

"My own band last played in December 2019 when we supported Hipsway in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Those were our last gigs because then lockdown came in March the following year. We couldn't rehearse, couldn't get together, couldn't make new music. There were no gigs so that was that.

"Most of us have got other jobs and the band isn't our whole life. I've been kept a bit busy writing during lockdown and since, so the band has taken a back seat, but who knows.

"I'm a guy in his sixties now so I think my time is limited as a rock star really. Starting from a baseline of having no talent, I'm not sure it's ever going to happen for me.

"Every crime writer I know would rather be a rock star than a writer. A lot of us join bands just for the fun of it. I was in a band when I was 19 and that should have told me that it was never going to be my career choice."