The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

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The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star
Cover, designed by Paul Brown
AuthorNikki Sixx, Ian Gittins
Cover artistPaul Brown
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutobiography
PublisherPocket Books
Publication date
September 18, 2007
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages432
ISBN978-0-7434-8628-6
OCLC123115369
782.42166/092 B 22
LC ClassML419.S614 A3 2007
Preceded byThe Dirt (2001) 
Followed byThis Is Gonna Hurt (2011) 

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is a book co-written by Nikki Sixx, bassist of the rock band Mötley Crüe, and Ian Gittins. Additional reflections on the period from Sixx and others are interspersed throughout the book. The book also includes many black-and-white photographs, lyrics, random thoughts and artwork. The book was designed by Paul Brown, according to page 406. With his other band Sixx:A.M., Sixx recorded a concept album titled The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack as a musical accompaniment for the book. The album was released in 2007.

One quarter of the profits from sales of the book are donated to Running Wild in the Night, a charity initiative for abused and abandoned children.[1]

Story

The book is a 413-page collection of diary entries written from Christmas 1986 to Christmas 1987. In considerable detail, the diaries chronicle the recording of Mötley Crüe's album Girls, Girls, Girls and the subsequent your Girls Girls Girls tour, ending with Sixx's near-death from a heroin overdose in late 1987, which inspires the band to quit heroin altogether. Themes include Sixx's relationships with then-girlfriend Vanity, the other members of Mötley Crüe, and his family as well as his drug dependency. Sixx's dark struggles with addiction and depression are leavened by humorous anecdotes about his wild lifestyle at the time.

Release

At Borders Group in Los Angeles, the book sold out on the day it was released. This was partially because Sixx was holding a book signing at the store.[2] The book debuted at #7 on the New York Times Book Review bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction.[3]

Album

Sixx's band Sixx:A.M. recorded The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack, an album of music inspired by the book. The album was released ahead of the book's publication. It entered the Billboard Independent chart at #7 in August 2007.[4] Some tracks on the album feature spoken word featuring Sixx himself reading some of the book's lines.

Contributors

References