Does everybody dream of Rock Stardom at some point in their life? I cannot count the number of "taking the school by storm and blowing everyone away" talent show fantasies I had as a teenager, and to this day I wonder what could have been had I learned how to play guitar instead of the piano. It is on days like this that I decide to live vicariously through others by throwing on some of my favorite music and reading about my favorite bands instead.
There is something quite satisfying in reading about lives completely unlike your own: lives you will never lead, but are curious about anyway. Not only that - it is pretty fun to read about the origins of your favorite band, or about some debauchery you either have never experienced or have put far behind you. Read one of these rock biographies and experience some secondary musical inspiration.
Slash by Slash and Anthony Bozza
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir by Mickey Leigh and Legs McNeil
The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx
Life by Keith Richards and James Fox
Heavier than Heaven: A biography of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross and Lloyd James
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman
Our Band could be your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick
The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz
Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga by Stephen Davis
No one here gets out alive by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman
"Our Band Could Be Your Life" is great!