First published 2010
Belinda Carlisle left her troubled home at eighteen, carrying wounds from her absent biological father and battles with her weight. She dove into the punk rock scene that welcomed outcasts like her. The Go-Go's rose from the L.A. underground to become chart-topping queens with their debut album. International stardom brought Belinda access to elite parties, endless alcohol, and drugs that fed the band's wild energy. Fame became her trap. The bubbly image from their album cover, where the band members smiled from bubble baths with chocolates and champagne, masked her growing self-destruction. Behind her bright smile lay deepening despair as addiction took hold. Carlisle chronicles her fall from pop royalty and her fight to rebuild herself as a sober artist, wife, and mother. This memoir strips away the glossy surface of eighties pop culture to expose the cost of fame and the possibility of redemption.
Genres: autobiography, biography-memoir, music
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: rags-to-riches, redemption
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 1980s
261 pages · Hardcover · Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Content warnings: addiction, alcohol-abuse, drug-use