Steven Tyler

by Laura Jackson

'I once had three Porsches and sold them all so I could snort up half of Peru.'

Steven Tyler is a natural born survivor. The charismatic front man of Aerosmith for more than three decades, he has soared the dizzying heights of fame and plumbed the dark depths of drug addiction - and is miraculously still performing.

Laura Jackson chronicles Tyler's incredible rollercoaster journey and reveals the lurid tales of sex and drugs, the creative partnerships and tensions in the band, the family conflicts and the women in his life, and his battle with Hepatitis C - not forgetting the music. Aerosmith are now a multi-platinum-selling act, and Tyler is unquestionably one of the most distinctive and vibrant personalities in rock. This is his story.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Liz]

I'm so loving this biograghy! Steven Tyler, well I've always been a fan. Now to hear about his childhood, family and creative nature is awesome. I'm a bit lost when he talks "music" because I'm not that versed on song but still it's a great book!

Not sure why the need to say fuck so much, but i guess it comes from years of hard fast living. ST is obviously gifted and yet this colorful metaphor is his primary word of choice as an adult...

[John Ballin]

OK, kinda went on and on but I enjoyed the NH stuff.

[Carl Timms]

All the depth of a puddle. I suspected I was in for a rough time when the band had got together, found fame and developed drug habits in under 100 pages. The remainder was simply a list of ‘played here, won x award, wrote an album’ on repeat for the next 100 odd pages. I may as well have read his Wikipedia page.

It reads like a fluff piece, full of ‘his gyrating sexiness’ and ‘oh isn’t he a great dad’ and at least 10 times reinforcing how Aerosmith are ‘America’s greatest rock band’ (arguable but not a dead cert) - there’s just nothing backing it up. Anecdotes are told in a couple of sentences and then boom back on the tour bus for another list of venues. There just barely any STORIES.

I get the feeling he had a lot of sign off on this and didn’t want to spend too long on his sordid 70s. Weak and totally missable as a rock biopic as I feel I learned barely anything from this. Avoid.

[Charlotte Daniel]

Interesting read. I learned a lot that I didn't know about Steven Tyler. Some of it was surprising, but mostly exactly what I expected.

[Roxanne]

I loved this book because I love Steven Tyler. He is very talented and can play 10 instruments. His band is awesome in the past and it still is. I have every cd they have ever made. He did not have an easy childhood, but he always had a desire to play music and they played in tacky bars before they hit it big. He has battled his demons and drugs but is still going strong.

[Janine]

Good easy reading - accidentally left my first copy on the plane, thanks to whoever kept it hope you like it and my Kiwi bookmark! - has a few tales that kept you hooked, possibly a bit sensationalist though, having read his autobiography first.

[Janne Paananen]

Ihan ok elämänkerta. Hieman suppea. Aerosmithistä on parempiakin.

[Joyce]

I really like this book