Sex, Drugs, and…a Pulitzer???

By Pamela Mortimer

This should be interesting. Three legendary rock stars have recently signed multi-million dollar deals to write their autobiographies. Slash, the top hat wearing guitarist for Velvet Revolver and Gun’s ‘N Roses, the Stones’ almost mythical Keith Richards and "Slowhand" Eric Clapton are among those who have put pen to paper to share their most um, interesting thoughts and experiences.

Although each autobiography promises to be a provocative trip through the excesses of rock ‘n roll, probably the most anticipated is that of Keith Richards. That is, if he can remember any of it. Richards, formerly a shy choirboy, formed the Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger in 1962. Since then, he’s been on an insane rock ‘n roll ride that would have undoubtedly killed a lesser man. Many are amazed that he’s still alive, considering the amount of damage he’s done to his body through drugs, alcohol, and most recently, a fall from a coconut tree. But Richards is still here and still rockin’.

Soon after announcing intentions to write his autobiography, Richards became the target of an all out bidding war by publishing companies. New York based publishers Little, Brown and Company, along with Britain's Weidenfeld and Nicolson, won the war, coughing up nearly $8 million for the rights to the tome, due to come out in 2010. This is especially surprising since rock autobiographies rarely sell well on the mass market. Obviously, they expect Richards to be the exception.

"Keith Richards has stood cool at the centre of the hurricane for nearly 50 years," said Michael Pietsch of Little, Brown and Co. "His story, in his own words - the band, the songs, the tours, the life - will be the most eagerly awaited book ever to come out of the hallowed halls of rock and roll."

British legend Eric Clapton, aka "Slowhand", is on tap to write his autobiography as well. Clapton received approximately $5 million to detail the journey starting with his career with the world’s first super group, Cream, to a stint with Derek and the Dominoes (who recorded "Layla") to his stellar solo career. Clapton has performed with the greatest musicians of all time, including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, and longtime friend George Harrison. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that he has played with everybody who is anybody…and he shows no signs of ever slowing down. Those who think that Clapton has peaked with hits like "I Shot the Sheriff", "Cocaine", "Wonderful Tonight", and the aforementioned "Layla", will find that they are dead wrong.

Along with Clapton’s unbelievable career, "Clapton: The Autobiography" will reveal the rock star’s bouts with alcoholism and heroin addiction. The singer/songwriter has battled with both. In the 80s, Clapton was getting it together. He was in recovery and enjoying his role as a father to little Conor. In a horrificly tragic moment, 4 year old Conor fell to his death from a fourth story window. In an effort to assuage his grief, Clapton wrote the soul stirring "Tears in Heaven".

In the book, Clapton summed up his many trials and tribulations by saying, "I found a pattern in my behavior that had been repeating itself for years, decades even. Bad choices were my specialty, and if something honest and decent came along, I would shun it or run the other way."

The third rocker to announce a soon-to-be released autobiography is Slash, famed guitarist of Velvet Revolver and former member of the 80s super group Guns ‘n Roses. The book, simply titled "Slash", is scheduled to be released in October.

The book will be an interesting collection of tales from the road, written in the style of a personal memoir, although Slash claims that it was written after the fact.

"It almost reads like a journal, except for the fact that I never wrote anything down," Slash said. "It was a hard book to make, because I was pretty f*cked up from 1980 to 2000-something. I really had to dig deep to try and remember a lot of sh*t."

Still, Slash has always been full of surprises from his debut wearing the now famous top hat to his relationship with legendary songwriter Carole King. It’s hard to tell what the rocker will dish up in the memoir. He told Glam-Metal.com that the book has "some funny sh*t in it. It's not really a book that I'm out attacking anybody or venting all my grievances."

In a recent interview, Slash revealed that there’s a lot of stuff about Guns ‘N Roses in the book but not necessarily because it happens to be the 20th anniversary of the band’s breakthrough "Appetite for Destruction".

Although many rockers burn out or fade away due to the pressures of stardom, Slash says that he and bandmates in Velvet Revolver concentrate on making music a central focus of their lives. "I think the most important thing is, from wherever it is that we come from back when we were kids, when we first got inspired to be musicians and we were huge rock fans, and the whole nine yards, that's never left us," he said. "So we never got jaded in the sense that — the business might have had some certain effect on us over the years, but as far as where our roots are, and what drives us to stay in and keep doing what we're doing, that's never changed."