| The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star | |
| Author: | Nikki Sixx, Ian Gittins |
| Cover Artist: | Paul Brown |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Autobiography |
| Publisher: | Pocket Books |
| Release Date: | September 18, 2007 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardback) |
| Pages: | 432 |
| Isbn: | 978-0-7434-8628-6 |
| Dewey: | 782.42166/092 B 22 |
| Congress: | ML419.S614 A3 2007 |
| Oclc: | 123115369 |
| Preceded By: | The Dirt (2001) |
| Followed By: | This 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 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]
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 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.
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]
Sixx's band 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.