First published 1997
Steven Tyler grips the microphone as another stadium erupts around him, but the real story happens backstage and in hotel rooms across America. Tyler and his bandmates Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, and Joey Kramer reveal twenty-five years of rock stardom without filters or apologies. They climbed from Boston clubs to arena stages, then crashed spectacularly into cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth addiction. The band members describe lost weeks, dangerous excess, and the creative fury that produced their signature sound. Perry admits their self-destructive streak came with dark humor intact. The five musicians detail their spectacular fall and their unlikely resurrection as they reclaimed their status as rock legends. This account captures both the musical genius and personal wreckage that defined one of America's greatest rock bands.
Genres: addiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir, music, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: redemption, rise-and-fall
Setting: Boston, America
Period: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
513 pages · Hardcover · Avon Books
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use, substance-abuse