The Royal We

by Roddy Bottum

A founder of the iconic band Faith No More shares his coming-of-age and out-of-the-closet story in pre–tech boom San Francisco


THE ROYAL WE is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy Bottum, a musician and artist, that documents through prose his coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco, a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, and rebellion. The book follows his travels from Los Angeles, growing up gay with no role models, to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon.


The book is an elevated wallop of tongue and insight, much more than a tell-all. There are personal tales of historical pinnacles like Kurt and Courtney, Guns N’ Roses, and recaps of gold records and arena rock—but it’s the testimonies of tragedy and addiction and preposterous life-spins that make this work so unique and intriguing. Bottum writes about his dark and harrowing past in a clear-eyed voice that is utterly devoid of self-pity, and his emboldened and confident pronouncements of achievement and unorthodox heroism flow in an unstoppable train that’s both captivating and inspirational.


A remarkable portrayal of a creative individual in emergence, a gay man figuring out how to be a gay man, and a detailed look at the nuance of 1980s pre–tech boom San Francisco, The Royal We will be greatly appreciated by people who loved Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl, Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, and other memoirs about the artist’s life.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, LGBT, Biography

272 pages, Hardcover

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Norman Praught · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Roddy’s story. The length was perfect. He’s a poet first, which made his depictions vivid and unique.

[Molly Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is 250+ pages of dingy, sexy, drug-fueled and poetic musings about coming of age – while trying not to come out – in 1980s San Francisco. Written by Roddy Bottoms (can you believe that's his real name?!), founding member of Faith No More, the book is part memoir, part stream of consciousness writing and part love letter to pre-Internet SF. Bottoms documents the dichotomy of being shamefully gay while rising to stardom in an often bigoted, cis-male-driven era of music. Bravely, he did something about it: in 1992, he told the world who he was.

[Sharon Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

As real as death, as gauzy as a dream, this memoir is like a beautifully written poem about the realest truths of life and imperfection. Roddy Bottum isn’t telling you everything. Nor should he. Some memories you keep, some you share. But I love what he has shared here and like Patti Smith he shares her gift for conjuring time and places so specific you can smell and see them, but shifting like smoke, here and gone, here and gone. Names if they matter, but even if they dont, the life is what speaks loudest. Brilliant flawed ugly beautfiful.

[Remi VL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roddy lived quite a life! Focused on his youth, early years in SF, up to getting sober in the early 90s. I'd have liked more on FNM, but I guess it's not about the band, it's about him, and also more about leading up to today, but that could be the next book!

Overall a wild ride from a great storyteller!

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elliptical and lyrical memoir from the keyboardist of Faith No More and leader of Imperial Teen. Did this erudite man really promulgate both white dreads and rap/rock? Well, things were different back then. I was there and bought the tape when everybody else did. It meant something different at the time.

Kids, you will learn so much about internalized homophobia here. The man was Courtney Love's gay best friend in the 8os and 90s and could not even self-identify as such. To be gay and famous was to be closeted. It was a dumb era.

The writing is up there with Richard Hell and Kathleen Hanna -- two other punk rockers who have seen and done it all, present at the creation. Bottum's wording is pleasantly blunt, descriptive, and precise.

I'd recommend this to anybody interested in San Francisco, being weird in the 80s, Kurt and Courtney, grief, or heroin memoirs. A fine book! Akashic always delivers.

[Hakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed a solid two hours to collect my thoughts after I finished this book. It is so shattering, beautifully written, soul-bearing, haunting, and cathartic that I wish it were much, much longer. Roddy has lead quite a life, from his teenage days hanging with hippies and getting into trouble to the struggles of addiction and loss in adulthood.

I usually frown upon musicians' memoirs that don't focus much on the music, but this one gets a pass because the rest is simply too powerful and gorgeously told. Don't get we wrong, there's a lot about Faith No More and a bit about Imperial Teen, but the heart of the book lies in his reckoning with his sexuality and his experience coming out as a gay man in the 90s, and how LGBTQ voices were almost nonexistent at the time in the music industry.

Overall, this was a wonderful surprise and affecting read that will for sure stay with me.

[Wendi Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not a big fan of Roddy as a person. There was always something in his demeanor that I didn’t like. He always seemed to not want to be wherever he was. I requested this book because I wanted to see if I was wrong about him. I wasn’t.

That said, this book is good. There’s a layer of superiority that runs through it, but it’s a thin one. It’s well written and vaguely informative. There’s a lot of interesting stuff, but he usually has insults and judgments on everyone, friends included.

As I said, this is good. I’d recommend it, but not for the deep, insightful memoir it’s supposed to be, but for the stories of a scene that doesn’t really get written about.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t like grunge or nostalgia so I wasn’t really the target group for this book.

I do really like Faith No More though.

The book is written in mainly short sentences, it has a poetic flow to it.

Like most successful people’s autobiographies, the first part before success hits, is the part I found most interesting.

The second part that was mainly about Bottum’s heroin habit and the life that happened around it, was quite bleak and depressing.

And the first part was mainly about little shit being little shits.

[Rivet Conri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read this moving and soul bearing story. The rise and fall of friends, the touring, the couch surfing all lends spellbinding allure to a world we’d all love to be a part of. Poetic in its prose, open in its faults and captivating in its ability to expose the humanity in the world around.

[Travis D · Rating 5 out of 5]

The opening paragraph of the short story “Greasy Lake" by T. Coraghessan Boyle came to mind many times while reading “The Royal We.” “We” shared a lot about life in SF and LA in the 80s. The sharing is a paradoxical mix of unfiltered and guarded at times. Roddy Bottum is not one to name names. The writing is often poetic and insightful.

[John Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A moving and blisteringly honest look behind the curtain
of not just being part of such an important movement
in American music this story also tells coming of age
in the Camelot like San Francisco of that time.
A time and place that were never quite seen again.

[Gordo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want the experience of truth, art and beauty in a biographical work this is the one for you. I could say so much more, but really what more could I add to convince you to read this magnificent book? It would only put more time between this and that. Brilliant.

[Andy Mascola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memoir by the keyboardist for Faith No More and founder of the band Imperial Teen. Surprisingly beautiful prose. Anecdotes flow like nebulous poetry. Roddy was an empathetic gay rocker at a time when hetero glam metal douchebags ruled US radio. An excellent read.

[Tristan Steyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Really enjoyed Roddy's writing style and his story. A recommended read for sure!

[Charles Fortune · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rawest, most captivating memoir I've read since Sing Backwards and Weep by Mark Lanegan. Roddy certainly has a way with words.

[Bernard Laugen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.35

[Garth Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roddy got it.

[Jaret Ferratusco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, poetic, scandalous, and sweet, this sexually charged tale of urgency and dilemma is a fine addition to the annals of rock n' roll bios I've loved. Thanks, Roddy!