![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ts2.mm.bing.net\/images\/thumbnail.aspx?q=1249169971289&id=5edfe7fc9d4dd4a6e629ea34a626f5a5&url=http%3a%2f%2fstatic.guim.co.uk%2fsys-images%2fMusic%2fPix%2fpictures%2f2009%2f4%2f30%2f1241107388425%2fKeith-Richards--001.jpg\")
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According to publisher Little, Brown, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards<\/a> has passed the 1-million copy mark for his autobiography. A milestone few books make, let alone a music biography.<\/p>\n There has been a run of memoirs by rockers over the past few years. Most recently, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler had a best-seller with DOES THE NOISE IN MY HEAD BOTHER YOU? Nielsen Bookscan reports over 200,000 sold (Bookscan reports 75% of sales and no eBook sales, so the number could easily top 300,000). Sammy Hagar (Van Halen and a stellar solo career) hit #1 with RED: MY UNCENSORED LIFE IN ROCK AND ROLL. It was propelled by Hagar discussing his UFO abduction. I guess that explains a lot. Bookscan has it selling 65,000 (so let’s put that total at 100,000 overall).<\/p>\n CLAPTON sold over 400,000 Bookscan (600,000 total?).<\/p>\n I read Rock biographies. Sure there is the usual stories of groupies, drugs, excess, recollection of the songs that we all know so well. But usually there is also a pretty interesting perspective into a life that is lived outside the rules.<\/p>\n Rock and Roll is ‘sex, drugs and well rock & roll’ but it also about rebellion and working within a system but still being outside of it. A series of\u00a0contradictions. I prefer the\u00a0biographies\u00a0to come from the person themselves — I am much less interested in critical bios from outsiders. Although that has a lot of value too (Stanley Booth’s account of the Stones; Bill Flanagan on U2<\/a> are a couple of classics that deserve mentioning).<\/p>\n I would like to see:<\/p>\n