Not Dead and Not For Sale
A Memoir
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3.9 • 28 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
In the early 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots - not U2, not Nirvana, not Pearl Jam - was the hottest band in the world. STP toppled such megabands as Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe on MTV and in the mainstream charts. Lead singer Scott Weiland became an iconic frontman in the tradition of Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Robert Plant. Then, when STP imploded, it was Weiland who emerged as the emblem of rock star excess, with his well-publicized drug busts and trips to rehab. Weiland has since made a series of stunning comebacks, fronting the supergroup Velvet Revolver, releasing solo work and, most recently, reuniting with Stone Temple Pilots. He still struggles with the bottle, but he has prevailed as a loving, dedicated father, as well as a business-savvy artist whose well of creativity is far from empty.
Weiland's memoir explores his early years as an altar boy, along with his first experiences with sex and drugs. Weiland discusses his complex relationships with his parents, stepfather, siblings, and the love of his life, Mary Forsberg Weiland. Readers learn the fascinating stories behind his most well-known songs, and what it was like to be there at the beginning of the grunge phenomenon - as Rolling Stone proclaimed on its cover, 'the year that punk broke'.
Not Dead & Not for Sale is a hard rock memoir to be reckoned with - a passionate, insightful and at times humorous book that reads with extraordinary narrative force.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Weiland, lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, delivers a surprisingly sober look at his career as "the guy whose hopeless addictions had and would always ruin everything for everyone." Weiland was one of the most commercially successful rockers of the 1990s until his drug-fueled crash-and-burn lifestyle led to the band s breakup in 2003. He then went to similar commercial fame and personal havoc as singer for the supergroup Velvet Revolver (with Guns N Roses guitarist Slash) until 2007. In part to set the record straight, Weiland and Ritz (who has coauthored books with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Janet Jackson, among many others) produce a straightforward, readable rock bio. Weiland s trajectory is familiar: an early troubled life; finding salvation in music; paying dues followed by massive commercial success; losing his way in drug and alcohol abuse as well as troubled marriages; finding peace in rehab; a recent successful drug-free reunion with STP. Sadly, the writing is often bland ("I have a chameleon-like ability to sing in any style") and it displays little of the tremendous energy found in his music as well.
Customer Reviews
OK
Would have liked a bit more depth. I feel that he just skimmed over some areas of his life and now, because of his death, we will never get that extra bit of story straight from him. I did enjoy reading it though and do admire him as a singer/songwriter.