Backstage at his concert at Nassau Coliseum in the summer of 1973, Eric Clapton actually fell to his knees and kissed my hand. Neither of us remembers it.
Photo © Michael Putland
Always relieved upon landing, I exit the “Starship” before Mick Jagger, somewhere in America during the Rolling Stones 1975 summer tour.
Photo © Annie Leibovitz
Somewhere in the U.S. on the Stones’ 1975 Tour of the Americas, Mick Jagger and I make some prank phone calls.
Photo © Annie Leibovitz
At a party in the ballroom of a Milwaukee hotel during the Stones’ 1975 tour, Ian Stewart and I admire his birthday cake.
Photo © Christopher Simon Sykes
I listen while Mick makes a long distance call during the Stones’ 1975 summer tour.
Photo © Annie Leibovitz
Mick sidles up to me backstage at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 1975 to tell me what Bob Dylan is wearing.
Photo © Annie Leibovitz
Me, Keith Richards and Jack Daniel’s in New York City, sometime in the 20th century.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Keith and I are joined by a buoyant John McEnroe backstage at the Ritz in New York City following a Tina Turner show in the 1980s.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Jimmy Page and I talk without moving our lips. Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant (left) eavesdrops.
Photo © Leee Black Childers
Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun and me on Led Zeppelin’s jet en route to Pittsburgh, July 24, 1973.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Did Robert Plant dial a number at random and hand me the phone? At Nirvana restaurant, New York City, January 1976.
Photo © Bob Gruen
In August 1976, Richard Robinson (center) tries to leave CBGB’s. Owner Hilly Kristal (right) urges him to stay.
Photo © Bob Gruen
We’ll always have Paris: with the Ramones and their manager Danny Fields at the Café de Flore sometime in the 1970s. Left to right: Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy, Danny and me.
Photo © Richard Robinson
Patti Smith and I have a chat backstage in 1976 at the Ocean Club.
Photo © Bob Gruen
The original New York Dolls, backstage at the Bottom Line in July 1978: me, David Johansen and Fran Lebowitz.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Smoking inside: Iggy, Cyrinda Foxe, David Bowie and me at the Ocean Club in March 1977.
Photo © Bob Gruen
At a party at Feathers in New York City on November 12, 1976, Lou Reed explains his hat.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Iggy, David Bowie and I take time out to relax after one of David’s Thin White Duke shows sometime in the 1970s.
Photo © Andrew Kent
At a Rolling Stones party in New York City in 1983, Andy Warhol and I share a contemplative moment.
Photo © Bob Gruen
At a party in New York City following a Queen show in February 1976, David Johansen, Freddie Mercury and I gossip.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Lou Reed asks me to hide a blank cassette from Television’s Tom Verlaine at CBGB, August 1976.
Photo © Bob Gruen
In Bungalow 5 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, David Johansen and I extol the virtues of Bungalow 5 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, September 1973.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Backstage at the Ocean Club in March 1977, Richard Robinson explains to David Bowie why he’ll only drink out of a bottle below 14th Street.
Photo © Bob Gruen
My first interview with John and Yoko at their Bank Street apartment, New York City, January 1973.
Photo © Bob Gruen
John Lennon and I look for David Bowie backstage at the Uris Theater in New York City at the Grammy Awards, March 1, 1975.
Photo © Bob Gruen
David Bowie and I look for John Lennon backstage at the Grammy Awards on March 1, 1975.
Photo © Bob Gruen
With Michael Jackson and my Sony cassette recorder at the Jacksons’ house in Encino, California, October 1972.
Photo © Andrew Kent
Family harmony in Encino. The Jackson Five crack me up in this undated photograph.
Photo © Andrew Kent
Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten in a rare smiling photo—backstage at Manchester’s Electric Circus, on the “Anarchy in the U.K.” tour.
Photo © Leee Black Childers
With ex–New York Doll and Heartbreakers guitarist Johnny Thunders at Manchester’s Electric Circus, December 1976, on the “Anarchy” tour.
Photo © Leee Black Childers
Then in Public Image Ltd., John (Johnny Rotten) Lydon talks with me and filmmaker and dub tape maestro Don Letts at the Kitchen in New York City in April 1982.
Photo © Bob Gruen
With guitarist Mick Jones while he was still in the Clash.
Photo © Bob Gruen
With Joe Strummer of the Clash—one of my favorite bands—somewhere on their 1980 U.S. tour.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Backstage at Saturday Night Live in 1982, Joe Strummer and I have a laugh over my column in the New York Post.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Out on the town with Elton in New York City in the 1980s.
Photo © Mick Rock
Me, Keith Richards and Fran Lebowitz photographed by Jane Rose sometime in the 21st century.
Photo © Jane Rose
At the Rainbow Room in New York City on April 5, 1976: Mick, me, and Lenny Kaye in a rare portrait.
Photo © Bob Gruen
Dr. Dre, Bono and I talk beats at a Grammy after-party in 2001 at the Cicada Restaurant in Los Angeles.
Photo © Kevin Mazur
Jonathan Becker captures the moment while Bono and I reminisce at the 2003 Vanity Fair Oscar party at Morton’s in L.A.
Photo © Jonathan Becker
Jonathan Becker took this photo of me with two of my favorite musicians—Jay Z and Jon Brion—at Vanity Fair’s 2005 Oscar party in L.A.
Photo © Jonathan Becker
At his Vanity Fair cover shoot in June 2013, Jay Z poses with four chains and me.
Photo © Benjamin Tietge
Lady Gaga and me in an elevator in 2012. She’s wearing twelve-inch heels. I’m not.
Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy and I are all smiles for Annie Leibovitz’s camera.
Photo © Annie Leibovitz
Yeezy’s world: backstage at Madison Square Garden in November 2013 with an Apollonian Kanye West.
Photo © Gabe Tesoriero
At the 2001 cover shoot for the Vanity Fair music issue. Left to right: Jewel, Stevie Wonder, Beck, Joni Mitchell, Gwen Stefani and I take a break.
Photo © Sarah Czeladnicki
Paul Rosenberg captured this special moment with me, Eminem and Rick Rubin backstage at Saturday Night Live on November 1, 2013.
Photo © Paul Rosenberg
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Most of all to Richard, without whom I would not have had a life in rock and roll.
To my sister Deane Zimmerman—whose invaluable assistance has always been essential to my work.
At Vanity Fair: Graydon Carter, Aimee Bell, Punch Hutton, Chris Garrett and Amanda Meigher. My agent Suzanne Gluck and Caroline Donofrio and Eve Attermann. To Geoff Kloske, Laura Perciasepe, Casey Blue James, Linda Rosenberg, Rob Sternitzky, Claire Sullivan, Jynne Martin, Claire McGinnis, Glory Plata and everyone at Riverhead Books.
And to Karen Mulligan at Leibovitz Studio and all the photographers who so generously gave me photos for this book: Annie Leibovitz, Bob Gruen, Leee Black Childers, Christopher Simon Sykes, Andrew Kent, Jonathan Becker, Michael Putland, Mick Rock, Jane Rose, Sarah Czelad
nicki, Kevin Mazur, Benjamin Tietge, Paul Rosenberg and Gabe Tesoriero.
INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Abramovic, Marina, 313–14
Adams, Cindy, 244
Adams, Ryan, 248
Adler, Lou, 33
Alarm, the, 221
Ament, Jeff, 102
Anger, Kenneth, 47, 87
Antony and the Johnsons, 295
Arcade Fire, 286
Atlantic Records, 15, 51, 52, 62
Attila, 294
Aucoin, Kevyn, 292, 293
Auder, Michel, 84
Avedon, Richard, 295
Azoff, Irving, 21
Bad Brains, 283, 287
Bad Company, 62
Band of Joy, 52, 344
Bandy, Way, 292, 294
Bangs, Lester, 80
Bardot, Brigitte, 109
Barkley, Charles, 91, 184
Barrett, Rona, 132
Bart, Lionel, 85
Basquiat, Jean-Michel, 293
Beastie Boys, the, 281, 291
Beatles, the, 24, 31, 122, 123, 124, 128, 132, 133, 134, 145–46, 148, 150–51, 156–57, 225, 226. See also Harrison, George; Lennon, John; McCartney, Paul; and Starr, Ringo
Beck, Julian, 313
Bell, Maggie, 62, 220
Bergen, Candice, 33
Berlin, Irving, 137, 138, 139
Berra, Yogi, 330
Berry, Chuck, 3, 34, 129–30, 206, 334–35
Bertinelli, Valerie, 175
Beverly Hills Hotel, 89, 94, 95, 129, 187, 283, 297, 303
Beyoncé, 261, 285, 293
Biafra, Jello, 259
Bindon, John, 73
Bingenheimer, Rodney, 64
Black, Cilla, 146
Blair, Tony, 246
Blakley, Ronee, 33
Blass, Bill, 83
Blige, Mary J., 270
Blond, Susan, 206
Blondie, 106, 115. See also Harry, Debbie
Bloomberg, Michael, 256
Blue Oyster Cult, the, 110
Bogart, Neil, 1, 96, 201
Bolan, Marc, 82
Bon Jovi, Jon, 255
Bonham, Jason, 75, 78
Bonham, John, 24, 52, 54, 57–59, 73, 76. See also Led Zeppelin
Bono, 33, 98, 118, 140, 214, 219–27, 230–31, 232–33, 237–47, 249–57. See also U2
Bono, Sonny, 33
Boomtown Rats, the, 221
Boteach, Rabbi Shmuley, 184
Bowie, Angela, 64, 82–83, 84, 94
Bowie, David, 7, 23, 68, 79, 81–83, 85, 86–90, 91, 94, 100, 103, 105, 118, 125, 128, 157, 174, 178, 219, 232, 282, 289, 296, 299, 301, 307
Boy George, 178, 219
Boyle, Loraine, 120, 126, 141, 152
Boyle, Peter, 120, 126, 141, 152
Brando, Marlon, 165, 181, 304
Breedlove, 306
Brion, Jon, 138, 191, 341, 346
Brown, James, 41, 160, 184, 207
Bruce, Lenny, 3, 70, 140, 258–59, 271, 273
Bruton, Stephen, 326–27, 346
Buckley, Lord. See Lord Buckley
Burdon, Eric, 210
Burke, Solomon, 15
Burnett, T Bone, 248, 326, 343, 346
Burnside, R. L., 322
Burroughs, William, 68
Bush, George W., 118, 191, 250, 253, 274, 283–84, 285
Buzzcocks, the, 196, 197, 199
Byrne, David, 107, 117. See also Talking Heads
Cale, Cynderella, 95. See also GTOs
Cale, John, 84, 86, 95 110, 242. See also Velvet Underground
Callaghan, Jim, 28, 41
Campbell, Naomi, 226, 239–40, 242, 293
Capote, Truman, 7, 68
Carl, Luc, 296–97, 303
Carpenter, Karen, 58
Carroll, Jim, 39
Carter, Bill, 25
Carter, Graydon, 185, 186
Carter, Troy, 311–12
Cash, Johnny, 216–17, 280
Cash, Rosanne, 280, 342
CBGB, 104–5, 107, 119, 129, 193–94
CBS Records, 201–2, 204
Cent, 50. See 50 Cent
Chandler, Chas, 204
Cheech and Chong, 141
Childers, Leee Black, 19, 81, 89, 100
Christgau, Robert, 91
Clapton, Eric, 6, 40, 43, 52, 126, 192, 204, 321, 322, 333. See also Cream
Claridge’s, 75, 214, 215
Clark, Gary, Jr., 344
Clash, the, 4, 16, 74, 174, 195, 196, 197, 198–206, 210–18, 221. See also Headon, Topper; Jones, Mick; Simonon, Paul; and Strummer, Joe
Clayton, Adam, 220, 223, 239–40, 242. See also U2
Clemente, Francesco, 293
Clemons, Clarence, 309
Cockettes, the, 83
Cocksucker Blues, 13
Cohen, Leonard, 67, 290–91
Cohen, Lyor, 260
Cohl, Michael, 340
Colacello, Bob, 209
Coldplay, 257
Cole, Richard, 47, 54, 57, 66, 69, 73
Collins, Joan, 33
Coltrane, John, 106, 206
Combs, Sean “Puffy,” 63
Cooper, Alice, 107, 119
Corbijn, Anton, 230
Cornell, Chris, 332
Costello, Elvis, 201–2
Cotton, James, 334
Count Basie, 330
County, Wayne, 81, 91, 101, 104
Cream, 15, 48, 52. See also Clapton, Eric
Creem magazine, 2, 94, 126
Crow, Sheryl, 174, 317, 329
Crowe, Cameron, 101
Crowley, Aleister, 55, 324
Curbishley, Bill, 77
Daltrey, Roger, 210
Darling, Candy, 294, 295
Daugherty, Jay Dee, 108, 118. See also Patti Smith Group
Davies, Ray, 208, 210. See also Kinks
Davis, Clive, 96, 98, 99, 201
Davis, Miles, 3, 23, 91
De Niro, Robert, 204
de Passe, Suzanne, 167, 168–69
Dean, Dorothy, 103
Defries, Tony, 79, 81, 82, 88, 89. See also MainMan
Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band, 56
Dennehy, Dennis, 263, 282, 297
Depp, Johnny, 118, 212
Derringer, Liz, 95
Derringer, Rick, 95
Diamond, Neil, 33
Dickinson, Jim, 26, 322–23, 346
Diddley, Bo, 205–6, 334
Didion, Joan, 33
DiLeo, Frank, 180, 188
Diller, Barry, 33
Dillon, Matt, 212
Disc and Music Echo, 2, 81
Dixon, Willie, 48
Doe, Ernie K., 53, 56, 334
Domino, Fats, 53, 326
Doors, the, 79, 199. See also Morrison, Jim
Dowd, Tom, 333, 346
Dre, Dr., 246, 265–67, 269–70, 280
Dunaway, Faye, 40
Dunn, Alan, 8, 21, 25, 26, 37
Dunn, Duck, 322, 346
Dunn, June, 322
Duran Duran, 102, 181, 219, 301
Dylan, Bob, 33, 39, 63, 91, 109, 111, 115, 118, 124, 221, 243, 266, 277, 322, 323, 326, 327, 328–30
Dylan, Sara, 33
Eagles, the, 21, 321
Eaglin, Snooks, 51, 56
Ed Sullivan show, the, 167, 183, 190
Edge, the, 98, 220, 222–23, 225–26, 229, 232, 245, 253–54, 255, 256. S
ee also U2
8 Mile, 266–67, 273
Elliott, Ramblin’ Jack, 328
Emerson, Lake and Palmer, 55, 163
Eminem, 236, 246, 248–49, 258–60, 263, 265–82, 283, 284–85, 286–87, 297
Epstein, Brian, 145–46
Ertegun, Ahmet, 15, 52, 83, 136, 201, 320, 346
Ertegun, Mica, 15, 83
Escovedo, Javier, 328
Esteban, Michel, 116
Evangelista, Linda, 293
Evans, Mal, 155
Expresso Bongo, 46, 81
Faces, the, 7, 11, 40, 43, 72
Faithfull, Marianne, 29, 109, 142, 178
Fallon, B.P., 68, 237
Fallon, Jimmy, 256
Farber, Jim, 291
Feldman, Marty, 161
Ferry, Bryan, 39, 63, 102, 114, 181
Fields, Danny, 79–80, 90, 95, 116, 195
50 Cent, 267, 284
Fisher, Carrie, 204
Fisher, Jules, 7
Flamin’ Groovies, the, 88, 196, 322
Flooks, Ian, 240
There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll Page 36
