If there’s one kind of book most publishers are dying to buy up, it’s a celebrity memoir. These books routinely sell ridiculously well, whether it is because the person who wrote them is an A-Lister or a cult favorite celebrity. Among the great number of celebrity autobiographies released in a year, there is a specific subsect that is arguably the most important of all: musician memoirs.
Learning about the life of a celebrity can be fascinating, but musician memoirs, especially those written by artists who started out doing little more than gigging or happened to strike gold with a record deal, can sometimes offer an even more realistic version of celebrity life. For instance, Barbra Streisand recently released a nearly 1000-page memoir on her life as a musician and actress, reflecting on her youth in Brooklyn and rise to superstar status. AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson similarly published a book in 2021, showing his humble start in post-WWII Newcastle and his climb through numerous failed bands and jobs towards becoming one of the best-known singers in classic rock.
Similar to celebrity memoirs, musician memoirs serve to humanize these quasi-mythical figures that become staple names in pop culture. But often, unlike celebrity accounts, the memoirs musicians put out are not ghostwritten, but are the very words of the artists themselves. Johnson, for instance, was very proud to put the legal pad leaflets of his handwritten draft of “The Lives of Brian” as the endpapers of the published product.
The beautiful element of getting a musician’s point of view in their own words is further emphasized when the musician happens to be the main lyricist of a band. The writings of Neil Peart, the drummer and main lyricist of the progressive rock band Rush, detail not only his many bike travels through numerous countries but also his time touring with the band. His stories are full of humor, philosophy and clarity that make for a joyful reading experience, working in tandem to show the inner world of this well-known artist. Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, put out his memoir “The Storyteller,” compiling his travels and tours in a very similar way which sheds light on his loving relationship with his family, his closeness to his bandmates and sharing the rollercoaster life of being a rock musician that no biographer could ever hope to catch.
Musician memoirs are further important because they can help highlight periods of the music industry that are beginning to wane. The god-like figure of the rockstar has faded in recent years and it’s safe to say that music will likely never see the culture of “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll” ever again, which is likely for the better because it means keeping young people safe from the more predatory of music’s individuals. Such a potent time in history cannot be brushed aside, and hearing it in the words of the people who were there, even if they may be biased, is incredibly valuable as eyewitnesses. Having these accounts further makes it possible for analysis of a certain era’s various peaks and pits.
This isn’t to say that all musicians who have been around for more than 40 years are the only ones who should be writing music. The bassist of Fall Out Boy, Joe Trohman, published a memoir in late 2022 delving into the hardcore scene he grew up in and the meteoric rise that Fall Out Boy found themselves in, all while being one of the more overlooked members of the group. He dives into the infamous Warped Tour scene, sharing how his views on life changed over time as he married and became a father and his hope for future music. The band would proceed to release an album and go on numerous tours, continuing to prove themselves an active and important part of the rock scene.
Even oral histories like Chris Payne’s “Where Are Your Boys Tonight” offer a place for musicians to speak in their own words their memories of a more or less bygone era of underground/alternative music. These spaces are important for the record to be spoken on because recording valuable memories and even conflicting ones for future music fans to go back and have available to them is crucial for the culture. There is immense value in having these musician memoirs in our literary and musical spaces. The publishing industry would be wise to open up even more space for diverse voices to be heard and various aspects of the music industry to be remembered in the public consciousness.
