FIRST KISS is memoir about my obsession with the hard rockin,' grease paint wearin,' fire breathin' band KISS. I discovered them right as they were beginning their careers some 40 years ago, and have remained a die hard fan since. Which is somewhat odd, given the fact that as a music writer, I am known as "The Ambassador of Southern Rock," catering to The Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Still, KISS rocked my world back in 1974, and they still do in 2013. This book...

"You have to bear in mind that [Questlove] is one of the smartest motherf*****s on the planet. His musical knowledge, for all practical purposes, is limitless." --Robert ChristgauA punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone's Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the album cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in black art...

From a legendary music journalist with four decades of unprecedented access, an insider's behind-the-scenes look at the major personalities of rock and roll.Lisa Robinson has interviewed the biggest names in music--including Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Patti Smith, U2, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Jay Z and Kanye West. She visited the teenage Michael Jackson many times at his Encino home. She spent hours talking to John Lennon at his Dakota apartment--and ...

Joe Perry’s New York Times bestselling memoir of life in the rock-and-roll band Aerosmith: “An insightful and harrowing roller coaster ride through the career of one of rock and roll’s greatest guitarists. Strap yourself in” (Slash).Before the platinum records or the Super Bowl half-time show or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Joe Perry was a boy growing up in small-town Massachusetts. He idolized Jacques Cousteau and built his own diving rig that he used ...

DEE’S NOT GONNA TAKE ITAs lead singer and songwriter of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider became the poster boy for heavy metal, hair bands, and the wild side of rock. Now, in his twisted new memoir, he reveals the real stories behind the crazy makeup, the big hair, and badass hits like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.”A classically trained countertenor who sang with his high school choir, Dee remembers the day he decided he was “not gonna tak...

Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories shared some of the best material from Randy’s hit CBC Radio show Vinyl Tap. Here, in Tales from Beyond the Tap, Randy tells more great stories from a life in rock—all of the fun, hardships, and adventure that haven’t been featured on the radio. This is Randy Bachman, unplugged!Tales from Beyond the Tap gives rock fans a VIP tour on an extraordinary life in music. Randy has met, and even performed with, almost ev...

A "fun, often hilarious" memoir by the queen of heavy metal and Runaways guitarist, packed with "plenty of colorful '80s rocker stories" ( Philadelphia Inquirer).Wielding her signature black guitar, Lita Ford shredded stereotypes of female musicians throughout the 1970s and '80s. Then followed more than a decade of silence and darkness—until rock and roll repaid the debt it owed this pioneer, helped Lita reclaim her soul, and restored the Queen of Metal to ...

"An utterly satisfying examination of the business of popular music." —Nathaniel Rich, The AtlanticThere’s a reason today’s ubiquitous pop hits are so hard to ignore—they’re designed that way. The Song Machine goes behind the scenes to offer an insider’s look at the global hit factories manufacturing the songs that have everyone hooked. Full of vivid, unexpected characters—alongside industry heavy-hitters like Katy Perry, Rihanna, Max Martin, and ...

Newly updated to include his critically acclaimed post-millennial work, this look at Tom Waits - both the reality and the myriad myths - reveals the man behind the curtain. A tale of how a self-taught, drunken hipster in roach-killers and a dirty beret has influenced a generation of musicians with his sound, warmth, and willingness to take chances, this biography shows how he has moved between sideshow barker and evocative troubadour with ease, recording almost 20 albums that range from ca...

The cofounder of Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, and Walking Papers shares what the hard-knock rock life has taught him about how to be a good dude (in spite of it all).One wouldn't usually turn to a veteran of Guns N' Roses for advice on how to live, but Duff McKagan is not a typical rock musician. As chronicled in the New York Times bestseller It's So Easy (and other lies), Duff got sober at thirty, went back to school, got smart about money, fel...

Don’t miss the inspirational biography behind the exciting new Lifetime movie Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, starring Alexandra Shipp as the extraordinary singer Aaliyah.Aaliyah Dana Haughton was that music business rarity: a teen idol who transformed herself into a critically acclaimed hip-hop soul artist, a singer who successfully made the transition to actress, and a beautiful woman who never let the trappings of celebrity go to her head. Following her i...

Rolling Stone magazine called Butch Walker one of "America's best singer-songwriters" and voted him a "Producer of the Year." An American music industry giant, Walker has worked with some of today's hottest talent, including Weezer, Katy Perry, Dashboard Confessional, Pink, Tommy Lee, Fall Out Boy, and The Donnas to name but a few. In his riveting memoir, Drinking with Strangers, Walker tells the fascinating story of his life and remarkable career, taking readers on a bre...