The #1 New York Times Bestseller * Named one of Variety's Best Music Books of 2021 * Included in Audible's Best of The Year list * A Business Insider Best Memoirs of 2021 * One of NME's Best Music Books of 2021 So, I've written a book. Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ("It's a piece of cake! Just do 4 hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!") I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child. This certainly doesn't mean that I'm quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it's like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.

Written by Virginia Grohl, the mother of Dave Grohl—former Nirvana drummer and current frontman for the Foo Fighters—From Cradle to Stage shares stories and exclusive photos featuring mothers of rock icons, the icons themselves, and their Behind the Music-style relationships While the Grohl family had always been musical-the family sang together on long car trips, harmonizing to Motown and David Bowie-Virginia never expected her son to become a musician, let alone a rock star. But when she saw him perform in front of thousands of screaming fans for the first time, she knew that rock stardom was meant to be for her son. And as Virginia watched her son's star rise, she often wondered about the other mothers who raised sons and daughters who became rock stars. Were they as surprised as she was about their children's fame? Did they worry about their children's livelihood and wellbeing in an industry fraught with drugs and other dangers? Did they encourage their children's passions despite the odds against success, or attempt to dissuade them from their grandiose dreams? Do they remind their kids to pack a warm coat when they go on tour? Virginia decided to seek out other rock star mothers to ask these questions, and so began a two-year odyssey in which she interviewed such women as Verna Griffin, Dr. Dre's mother; Marianne Stipe, Michael Stipe of REM's mother; Janis Winehouse, Amy Winehouse's mother; Patsy Noah, Adam Levine's mother; Donna Haim, mother of the Haim sisters; Hester Diamond, Mike D of The Beastie Boys' mother. With exclusive family photographs and a foreword by Dave Grohl, From Cradle to Stage will appeal to mothers and rock fans everywhere.

The first full-length narrative biography of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, considered by many to be one of the greatest drummers in rock history, and a genuine wild man of epic (and sadly fatal) proportions. Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin is the first-ever biography of the iconic John Bonham, considered by many to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) rock drummer of all time. Bonham first learned to play the drums at the age of five, and despite never taking formal lessons, began drumming for local bands immediately upon graduating from secondary school. By the late 1960s, Bonham was looking for a more solid gig in order to provide his growing family with a more regular income. Meanwhile, following the dissolution of the popular blues rock band The Yardbirds, lead guitarist Jimmy Page sought the company of new bandmates to help him record an album and tour Scandinavia as the New Yardbirds. A few months later, Bonham was recruited to join the band who would eventually become known as Led Zeppelin-and before the year was out, Bonham and his three bandmates would become the richest rock band in the world. In their first year, Led Zeppelin released two albums and completed four US and four UK concert tours. As their popularity exploded, they moved from ballrooms and smaller clubs to larger auditoriums, and eventually started selling out full arenas. Throughout the 1970s, Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success, making them one of the most influential groups of the era, both in musical style and in their approach towards the workings of the entertainment industry. They added extravagant lasers, light shows, and mirror balls to their performances; wore flamboyant and often glittering outfits; traveled in a private jet airliner and rented out entire sections of hotels; and soon become the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery and destruction while on tour. In 1977, the group performed what would be their final live appearance in the US, following months of rising fervor and rioting from their fandom. And in September of 1980, Bonham-plagued by alcoholism, anxiety, and the after-effects of years of excess-was found dead by his bandmates. To this day, Bonham is posthumously described as one of the most important, well-known, and influential drummers in rock, topping best of lists describing him as an inimitable, all-time great. As Adam Budofsky, managing editor of Modern Drummer, explained, "If the king of rock 'n' roll was Elvis Presley, then the king of rock drumming was certainly John Bonham."

Foo Fighters emerged from the morass of suicide and potent musical legacy that was Nirvana to establish themselves against all odds as one of the most popular rock bands in the world.Deflecting early critical disdain, Dave Grohl has single-handedly reinvented himself and cemented his place in the rock pantheon. This is his story, from his pre-Nirvana days in hardcore band Scream to his current status as a festival conquering, Grammy winning, platinum-selling grunge legend.Across the entire body of Foo Fighters albums, the whole legendary Nirvana tale, the pre-history in the nascent Seattle scene and Grohl's flirtations with Queens of the Stone Age and his supergroup side-project Them Crooked Vultures, this is an utterly comprehensive, insightful chronicle of Dave Grohl's remarkable life.Drawing on new interviews with key figures in the Grohl story, this definitive biography of one of modern rock's most influential figures includes the stories of the multi-platinum opus Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, 2011's Wasting Light, which saw Grohl reunited with Nirvana producer Butch Vig and Sonic Highways, their ambitious homage to coast-to-coast US classic rock.'FASCINATING' THE GUARDIAN

Originally published: London: HarperCollins, 2011.

Teenage punk, self-taught musician, bandleader, session man, smoker, drinker, multi-millionaire, David Grohl has achieved a rare feat, a rock ‘n’ roll double crown having been a member of two hugely successful and influential bands – Nirvana and The Foo Fighters. Loaded with candid interviews and hard truths about Grohl’s life in music, this is the first comprehensive biography of an icon whose career charts rock and roll’s rise and fall over the past two decades. Detailing his drumming and touring with Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails and his battle over Nirvana’s legacy with Courtney Love, this is a no-holds-barred account of a career and life at the very top. Grohl's powerhouse drumming, anthemic riffing and melodic brilliance have proved both thrilling and enduring, and he remains one of rock's most respected figures.

The Foo Fighters emerged from the morass of suicide and potent musical legacy that was Nirvana to establish themselves - against all odds - as one of the most popular rock bands in the world. Deflecting early critical disdain, Dave Grohl has single-handedly reinvented himself and cemented his place in the rock pantheon. This is his story, from his pre-Nirvana days in hardcore band Scream to his current festival-conquering status as a Grammy-winning, platinum-selling grunge legend reborn. Across the seven Foo Fighters albums, the whole sordid yet legendary Nirvana tale, the pre-history in the nascent Seattle scene and right up to date via Grohl's flirtations with bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, this is an utterly comprehensive and insightful chronicle of Dave Grohl's remarkable life. Drawing on new interviews with key figures in the Grohl story, this definitive biography of one of modern rock's most influential figures is now updated to include the world conquering double albumIn Your Honour, the mellow acoustic brilliance of theirSkin and Bonesfilm and album, and their recent multi-platinum opusEchoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.

A vivid and revelatory account of life in two of metal's greatest bands, Sepultura and Soulfly, by one of the global metal scene's important figures.

"Alice Pearse thought she would live happily ever after...then she realized she was in the wrong story...[and] realizes the question is not whether it's possible to have it all, but what does she--Alice Pearse--really want?"--

This book provides fresh insight into the creative practice developed by Paul McCartney over his extended career as a songwriter, record producer and performing musician. It frames its examination of McCartney’s work through the lens of the systems model of creativity developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and combines this with the research work of Pierre Bourdieu. This systems approach is built around the basic structures of idiosyncratic agents, like McCartney himself, and the choices he has made as a creative individual. It also locates his work within social fields and cultural domains, all crucial aspects of the creative system that McCartney continues to be immersed in. Using this tripartite system, the book includes analysis of McCartney’s creative collaborations with musicians, producers, artists and filmmakers and provides a critical analysis of the Romantic myth which forms a central tenet of popular music. This engaging work will have interdisciplinary appeal to students and scholars of the psychology of creativity, popular music, sociology and cultural studies.