Charles R. Cross

‘I hate Myself and Want to Die’. Det var arbejdstitlen på Nirvanas sidste album. Et halvt år efter udgivelsen begik Kurt Cobain selvmord, 27 år gammel.‘Kurt Cobain’ følger Kurt Cobain fra hans omtumlede barndom, til han står på berømmelsens tinder. Det var her, den unge rockstjerne altid havde ønsket sig op – men han hadede berømmelsen og skruede sig langsomt ned i et heroinhelvede, som end ikke hans nyfødte baby kunne trække ham ud af. Den garvede New York Times-rockjournalist Charles R. Cross – kendt på dansk grund for den anmelderroste Hendrix-biografi ‘Room Full of Mirrors’ – har til denne bog haft adgang til Kurt Cobains upublicerede dagbøger, og han giver et hidtil uset indblik i en stor kunstners liv og den smerte, der tilintetgjorde det. ”... det lykkes på beundringsværdig vis Cross at vise, hvad der sker, når berømmelsen hiver og slider i en sart sjæl, der gerne vil anerkendes bredt og være den troværdige outsider.” Weekendavisen“… spændende og veldokumenteret ... fortæller sobert, forstående og medrivende om grungeprofetens 27 lange år." Tjeck"Cross giver en grundig, nøgtern og usentimental fremstilling af, hvorfor det nærmest måtte gå Cobain, som det gik. Og det er trods den usympatiske hovedperson ganske enkelt medrivende læsning." Fyens Stifstidende"Bogen føjer nye sider til historien om Kurt Cobain ... fascinerende"Gaffa"En af de mest bevægende og afslørende bøger, der nogensinde er skrevet om en rockstjerne." The Los Angeles Times“… vil formentlig blive stående for altid som den definitive Kurt Cobain-biografi"Aberdeen Daily World

The New York Times bestseller and the definitive portrait of Kurt Cobain--as relevant as ever, as we remember the impact of Cobain on our culture twenty-five years after his death--now with a new preface and an additional final chapter from acclaimed author Charles R. Cross. It has been twenty-five years since Kurt Cobain died by his own hand in April 1994; it was an act of will that typified his short, angry, inspired life. Veteran music journalist Charles R. Cross fuses his intimate knowledge of the Seattle music scene with his deep compassion for his subject in this extraordinary story of artistic brilliance and the pain that extinguished it. Based on more than four hundred interviews; four years of research; exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished diaries, lyrics, and family photos; and a wealth of documentation, Heavier Than Heaven traces Cobain's life from his early days in a double-wide trailer outside of Aberdeen, Washington, to his rise to fame, success, and the adulation of a generation. Charles Cross has written a new preface for this edition, giving readers context for the time in which the book was written, six years after Kurt's death, and reminding everyone how fresh that cultural experience was when the interviews for the book were done. The new final chapter will update the story since, regarding investigations into Cobain's death, Nirvana's induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and how their place in rock history has only risen over the decades.

THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY ON KURT COBAIN'A joy to read'Observer'Superbly researched'Sunday Times'Is, or should be, the last word on Kurt Cobain'Lynn Barber, Daily TelegraphKurt Cobain's life and death fast became rock 'n' roll legend. The worldwide success of his band, Nirvana, defined the music scene in the early 1990s and their songs spoke to and for a generation. Music journalist Charles R. Cross, a veteran of the Seattle music scene, relates this extraordinary story of artistic brilliance and the pain that extinguished it. Heavier Than Heaven is the definitive life of one of the twentieth century's most creative and troubled music geniuses, and includes a new introduction commemorating twenty five years since Cobain's death.'Wins immediate entry into the rock lit pantheon. Five stars'Q Magazine

Two sisters. Two voices. One Heart. The mystery of Magic Man. The wicked riff of Barracuda. The sadness and beauty of Alone. The raw energy of Crazy On You. These songs, and so many more, are part of the fabric of American music. Heart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw, and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades. As the only sisters in rock who write their own music and play their own instruments, Ann and Nancy have always stood apart-certainly from their male counterparts but also from their female peers. By refusing to let themselves and their music be defined by their gender, and by never allowing their sexuality to overshadow their talent, the Wilson sisters have made their mark, and in the process paved the way for many of today's female artists. In Kicking and Dreaming, Ann and Nancy, with the help of critically acclaimed and bestselling music biographer Charles R. Cross, recount a journey that has taken them from a gypsy - like life as the children of a globe-trotting Marine to the frozen back roads of Vancouver, where they got their start as a band, to the pinnacle of success-and sometimes excess. In these pages, readers will learn the truth about the relationship that inspired "Magic Man" and Crazy On You, the turmoil of interband romances gone awry, the reality of life on the road as single women and then as mothers of small children, and the thrill of performing and in some cases partying with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Stevie Nicks, Van Halen, Def Leppard, and other rock legends. It has not always been an easy path. Ann struggled with and triumphed over a childhood stutter, body image, and alcoholism; Nancy suffered the pain and disappointment of fertility issues and a failed marriage but ultimately found love again and happiness as a mom. Through it all, the sisters drew from the strength of a family bond that trumps everything else, as told in this intimate, honest, and uniquely female take on the rock and roll life. Throughout their career, Ann and Nancy have never found an answer to the question they are most frequently asked: "What is it like to be a woman in rock and roll?" Kicking and Dreaming puts that question to bed, once and for all.

Highlighting one of the most emblematic guitarists of the 1970s, this biography charts the life and career of Jimi Hendrix. Destacando uno de los guitarristas m s emblem ticos de los 1970s, esta biograf a describe la vida y la carrera de Jimi Hendrix.

Flere myter om Hendrix´ liv får et nærmere eftersyn i denne biografi, der er blevet fremhævet som en af de bedste bøger om rock- legenden. Den er gennemresearchet og velskrevet som en god roman.» En glimrende biografi om den måske bedste og mest innovative guitarist, verden har set.«- GAFFA

A definitive portrait of rock legend Jimi Hendrix, honoring the thirty-fifth anniversary of the musician's death, captures the full span of Hendrix's life, from his troubled childhood and battles against racial prejudice to his rapid rise to the height of the music world and tragic death, drawing on more than three hundred interviews to chronicle a life of sex, drugs, and extraordinary talent. Reprint. 60,000 first printing.

'Charles R. Cross has got as close to the truth as anyone yet in his exhaustive and ground-breaking account of the life of the greatest guitarist in the history of rock.' Observer'Superb'Sunday TelegraphJimi Hendrix continues to fascinate, and sell huge quantities of albums, even 35 years after his death. Quite apart from his influence on musicians and fans, a large part of the appeal of his sensational life story lies in the thrill of the era whose values he came to stand for. The Sixties still exert a massive pull over pop culture and this is genuinely a book for anyone interested, not only in Hendrix but also in anything to do with the pop culture of the last 40 years. Meticulously researched and sensitively and beautifully written, this is a labour of love that reveals the nuances, foibles and tragedies of the human being behind the iconic image. This is the sweeping, authoritative and colourful biography that Jimi Hendrix and that his legions of fans, young and old deserves.

James Marshall Hendrix brachte die elektrische Gitarre "zum Sprechen". Vom Blues kommend revolutionierte er den Rock'n'Roll, indem er Rückkopplungen, unvorhersehbare Frequenzüberlagerungen und Verzerrung zur Kunstform erhob - so virtuos wie er spielte sonst niemand. Er war der Star der Stars: Paul McCartney empfahl ihn für das Monterey-Festival, Eric Burdon bewunderte ihn, Keith Richards reagierte eifersüchtig. In nur wenigen Jahren war er aus ärmsten Verhältnissen zum Weltstar aufgestiegen. Mit seinen schrillen Bühnenklamotten und der wilden Afrofrisur wurde er zum Sexsymbol. Kaum jemand verkörperte die Träume und Ideale des Summer of Love wie er - nicht zuletzt auch durch seinen zügellosen Drogenkonsum und frühen Tod gilt er bis heute als Ikone der Sechziger. Als der siebenundzwanzigjährige Jimi Hendrix am 18. September 1970 in London unter tragischen Umständen starb, verlor die Rockmusik einen ihrer kreativsten und innovativsten Köpfe. Charles R. Cross entdeckt den Menschen hinter der Legende. Er zeichnet das Porträt eines jungen Schwarzen, der zwischen Alkoholismus der Eltern, Rassismus der Fünfziger- und Sechzigerjahre und der Armut in den schwarzen Ghettos von Seattle nur einen einzigen Ausweg für sich sieht: Musik. Doch auch der Ruhm bringt Hendrix kein Glück; privat bleibt er voller unerfüllter Sehnsucht, und beruflich wird er zwischen Management und Fans zerrieben. Sein Buch, das wochenlang auf der Bestsellerliste der New York Times stand, schildert das Leben eines Mannes, der keine dreissig Jahre alt wurde und doch unsterblich bleibt.

It has been more than thirty-five years since Jimi Hendrix died, but his music and spirit are still very much alive for his fans everywhere. Charles R. Cross vividly recounts the life of Hendrix, from his difficult childhood and adolescence in Seattle through his incredible rise to celebrity in London's swinging sixties. It is the story of an outrageous life--with legendary tales of sex, drugs, and excess--while it also reveals a man who struggled to accept his role as idol and who privately craved the kind of normal family life he never had. Using never-before-seen documents and private letters, and based on hundreds of interviews with those who knew Hendrix--many of whom had never before agreed to be interviewed--Room Full of Mirrors unlocks the vast mystery of one of music's most enduring legends.