The Blues Brothers hit theatres on June 20, 1980. Their scripted mission was to save a local Chicago orphanage; but Aykroyd, who conceived and wrote much of the film, had a greater mission: to honour the then-seemingly forgotten tradition of rhythm and blues, some of whose greatest artists - Aretha Franklin, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles - made the film as unforgettable as its wild car chases. Much delayed and vastly over budget, beset by mercurial and oft drugged-out stars, The Blues Brothers opened to outraged reviews. However, in the 44 years since it has been acknowledged a classic: inducted into the National Film Registry for its cultural significance, even declared a 'Catholic classic' by the Church itself, and re-aired thousands of times on television to huge worldwide audiences. It is, undeniably, one of the most significant films of the 20th century.

The saga behind The Blues Brothers, as Daniel de Visé reveals, is epic, encompassing the colourful childhoods of Belushi and Aykroyd; the comedic revolution sparked by Harvard's Lampoon and Chicago's Second City; the birth and anecdote-rich, drug-filled early years of Saturday Night Live, where the Blues Brothers were born as an act amidst turmoil and rivalry; and, of course, the indelible behind-the-scenes narrative of how the film was made, scene by memorable scene. Based on original research and dozens of interviews probing the memories of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to Aykroyd himself, The Blues Brothers illuminates an American masterpiece while vividly portraying the creative geniuses behind modern comedy.

THE BLUES BROTHERS is a story of friendship and film, race and revival, rhythm and blues. The 1980 movie stands as a landmark of American cinema and popular culture: A glorious meeting of the nation's white and black musical traditions, a moment of rebirth for the legends of African-American music, and the crowning achievement of three iconic talents in television and cinema, comedic actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and director John Landis. The Blues Brothers marked a paradigm shift in the comedy and musical genres of cinema, a passing of the torch to a young and restless generation of writers and performers raised on television, and the arrival of Chicago as a cinematic setting. Dismissed by critics and shunned by theater owners upon its release, The Blues Brothers matured into a cinema classic. One of cinema's great comedies, The Blues Brothers also offered a groundbreaking vision for a modern, urban musical. The Blues Brothers endures, too, as a symbol of Hollywood excess, the heady, coke-fuelled peak of a doomed artistic partnership.

THE BLUES BROTHERS chronicles the making of an iconic American film, and how the movie uses comedy to convey an important message about music, race and the American experience. Among other things, the book will reveal the true purpose of the mission that fueled the Blues Brothers enterprise: to revive the careers of America's greatest icons of rhythm and blues. This transcendent quest sets The Blues Brothers apart from the other fine comedy films of its era, securing a place for Aykroyd, Belushi and Landis in the turbulent history of race in America-in this case, as white Americans who leveraged their fame to raise the currency of great Black American musicians.