The life of a rock ‘n’ roll artist involves a lot of ups and downs, trials and tribulations.
Many memories are naturally made along the way. Some are positive: the first record deal a band lands, the first time they scored a great opening gig or their first No. 1 hit song. Others can be a little less rosy: complicated lineup changes, shifty managers and bandmates lost to drug addiction or other circumstances.
Most rock artists spend a huge portion of their lives on the road, a nomadic existence that inevitably makes life seem like it’s running at top speed all the time. After decades of carrying on like this, it can be intriguing to look back at everything, which many have done in the form of personal memoirs.
Some of the artists in the below list of Required Reading: 79 Rock Memoirs don’t feel like they need to put their lives down in a book. Robert Plant, Mick Jagger and Ringo Starr are among the high-profile rockers who’ve made it clear that penning a memoir isn’t for them. “I mean, what – who – for?” Plant said in 2017. “Those stories are locked nicely between my two ever-growing ear holes. So fuck it. There’s a lot in there, and that’s where it’s staying.”
Still, dozens of other artists feel differently, as you’ll see in the below list of books that detail everything from debauchery to struggles to celebrations. Happy reading!
Required Reading: 79 Rock Memoirs
First-person accounts detail the debauchery, struggles and celebrations.
