JOE PERRY’S
‘ROCKS: MY LIFE IN AND OUT OF AEROSMITH’
SITS IN TOP TEN
ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST
FOR INITIAL TWO WEEKS OF RELEASE
BOOK ENTERS THE CHART AT #8
AND REMAINS AT #10 IN WEEK TWO
Since its October 7 release, JOE PERRY’s ROCKS: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith (Simon & Schuster) has spent its initial two weeks on the prestigious NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list. ROCKS entered the charts at #8 and remained in the Top Ten (#10) in week two. In the book, PERRY shares–with total candor and without apology–what life is like as the lead guitarist and co-head writer of Aerosmith.
Perry has been in high demand, completing a cross-country book tour with multiple nights in New York, his Boston hometown (three in-stores), Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and a stop at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland. He has been equally busy with top-tier broadcast appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Conan, CBS This Morning, Fox & Friends, Tavis Smiley, and Larry King alongside popular national radio including Howard Stern and Imus In The Morning.
Here’s some initial critical feedback on ROCKS:
“Well-paced [and] well-plotted. … Perry’s anecdotes could have been flown in from some ace rock ’n’ roll-centric novel, and do more than amuse; the best enlighten, not just about this band and the partnership at the core of it, but the very nature of creativity itself. … A mini-masterpiece, a term that, scaled back a touch further still, describes this able memoir.”
–THE BOSTON GLOBE, 10-7-14
“Perry provides evocative portraits of his very American youth… The years of rock and roll notoriety are standard issue—drugs, partying, bad decisions—although the story shines on those rare occasions when Perry details the nuts and bolts of song making. Later chapters covering the manipulations of a Svengali-like producer have their own allure, as do the discussions of the complexity and expense of producing hits. … Perry’s book will strike gold with every Aerosmith fan.”
–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, 7-14-14
“Joe Perry reflects on his roller coaster of a life.”
–PARADE, 10-14-15
“With unvarnished candor, he tells his side of the toxicity.”
—SALON.com/The Weeklings, 10-7-14
“The book stays true to Joe’s personality, offering a thoughtful, no-nonsense look at the highs and lows–followed by more highs and lows–of Aerosmith’s fascinating history.”
—EXAMINER.com, 10-7-14
“An honest reflection of the life and career of one of rock’s all-time greats. Perry pulls no punches in detailing the rise, fall and second coming of one of the greatest American rock bands. … Rocks really shines in its ability to showcase a different side of human nature and just what it takes to get along.”
–GUITAR WORLD, 10-8-14
“Revealing.”
–GIBSON, 10-7-14
“[Perry] chronicles the sometimes-turbulent 40-plus-year history of Aerosmith, which is what fans would hope. But beyond that, the 64-year-old artist’s delightfully readable tome is the story of the boy who grew into the man who grew into the rock star who grew into the father and husband he is.”
–LOS ANGELES NEWSPAPER GROUP, 10-12-14
“Perry is candid in detailing his sojourn in one of the most famously debauched-then-reborn–and debauched again, and reborn again–bands in history.”
–THE BOSTON GLOBE, 10-5-14
“Brutally honest …. [a] delightfully readable tome.”
–CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, 10-14-14
Beginning with a foreword by Johnny Depp ROCKS is both a study in brotherhood and solitude. Throughout the book, Perry reflects on the people who stood beside him during the highs and lows as he and Aerosmith skyrocketed into a world of fame and utter excess. Before he was one half of the “Toxic Twins,” Perry was a science-obsessed kid who dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. His loving, supportive parents encouraged his curiosity and sent him to Vermont Academy where his love for rock and roll grew, along with his obsession for the guitar. Within weeks of graduating from Vermont Academy, Perry dropped out for refusing to cut his hair. By 1970, Perry and Tom Hamilton had been playing together for two years when they decided to move to Boston, rent an apartment and fill it with a band that we know today as Aerosmith. Aerosmith–featuring Steven Tyler, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford alongside Perry and Hamilton–signed with Columbia Records in 1972.
In Perry’s own words, ROCKS tells the whole story–“the loner’s story, the band’s story, the recovery story, the cult story, the love story, the success story, the failure story, the rebirth story, the re-destruction story, and the post-destructive rebirth story”–of what came to pass over the next five decades and details the perks and perils that go hand-in-hand with an extreme rock and roll lifestyle. With over 100 photographs showing Perry’s life on- and off-stage, “[ROCKS] will strike gold with every Aerosmith fan” (Publishers Weekly).
About the Authors
Joe Perry is the cofounder of Aerosmith. He is the band’s leading guitarist and, along with Steven Tyler, its main songwriter.
David Ritz has been called “the first call celebrity collaborator” by The New York Times. He has written books with everyone from Ray Charles to Janet Jackson.
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