Former RIP Editor Discusses 'Life On Planet Rock' Book In New Video Interview

August 28, 2011

Art Holmes of the Los Angeles Film School conducted an interview with Lonn Friend, former editor of RIP magazine and author of "Life On Planet Rock", on August 15, 2011 in Hollywood, California. You can now watch the chat in six parts below.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich penned the foreword to "Life on Planet Rock", which came out in 2006 via Morgan Road Books.

As executive editor of the seminal rock magazine RIP from 1987 to its demise in 1994, Friend found himself at the very center of the music scene during one of its most prolific, profligate, and prosperous times. Bands with bad-boy attitudes, big hair, and an even bigger sound GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE, MTLEY CRE, WHITESNAKE, and MEGADETH ruled the charts, but the period also saw the birth of the Seattle-based grunge movement and meteoric rise of bands such as PEARL JAM and NIRVANA, whose multi-platinum 1991 release "Nevermind" effectively sounded the death knoll for the hair-metal era. From his privileged perch within the eye of the hurricane, Friend chronicled in the pages of RIP the successive waves of change that rocked the music universe, offering the world one of the greatest runs in the history of music writing, rivaling the best work of Lester Bangs and Cameron Crowe.

In "Life On Planet Rock - From Guns N' Roses To Nirvana, A Backstage Journey Through Rock's Most Debauched Decade", Friend provides readers with the ultimate all-access pass, one that takes them backstage, into the recording studios and luxury hotel suites, and onto the tour bus with some of the biggest stars in rock s storied history. Candidly recounting his adventures, friendships, and occasional run-ins with figures ranging from Alice Cooper to Axl Rose, from Slash to Gene Simmons, from Kurt Cobain to Steven Tyler, and from Jon Bon Jovi to James Hetfield, Friend paints a vivid, you-are-there portrait of an era of unbridled excess and shares the personal story of one fan s struggle to navigate the treacherous world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll while keeping his sense of self and his soul intact.

Read an excerpt from the book at this location.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

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