Last modified on Thu 25 Feb 2021 23.36 EST Johnny Rogan, who has died unexpectedly aged 67, was among the most prolific and well-regarded music biographers of his generation. He was much admired for his attention to detail and tenacity in pursuing facts, but his work did not always sit well with his subjects and for this reason he cultivated an air of secrecy about his activities and whereabouts. Once his confidence had been gained, however, he was the most affable of companions, witty and wise, the perfect drinking buddy. Two of his 26 books were particularly notable. His definitive biography of the Byrds ran to four updated, revised editions. First published in 1981 as Timeless Flight and in 2011 as Requiem for the Timeless, it had grown by then from the original 192 pages into a 1,200-page epic. A second volume, in 2017 his last published book, added a further 1,248 pages to the work and told the stories of the six former members of the group who had died. Q magazine described it as “the best biography of a group ever written”, while Record Collector magazine compared its scope to Tolstoy’s War and Peace.