I keep starting this review, then stopped and leaving it unwritten. There's so much to this book to sum it up in just a few paragraphs.*

First and foremost, props to Mrs Tucker-Sullivan for drawing my attention to a line in a song I must've sung 175 times in my lifetime without ever actually paying attention to the words. This is about the widowed brides, the women who loved and lost some of rock 'n' roll's most elite. The women in the background, who dealt with addiction, with mania, with groupies, and did it with quiet dignity. And often indignity of what comes after the death of someone larger than life, beloved by fans the world around.

While grieving the loss of her own husband, and trying to find answers in the midst of grief, she interviewed women whose losses played out on a much grander scale. And she found some comfort, and answers, in the commonalities of loss.

As a huge music fan, I especially enjoyed this, as while a significant portion of these musicians died before my time, I am familiar with 90% of them, enjoy their music, and appreciate what the loss did to their fans. I can't appreciate what so many widows went through in their loss, such as the desecration of Ronnie VanZant's grave by (quite frankly) weird ass fans.

Or the absolutely and utterly horrifying story of what happened to Gram Parsons' body after his death, and what his widow had to come to terms with. That's not something anyone. ANYONE. ANY FUCKING ONE. should ever have to face when it comes to the loss of the love of their life.

That's why my grief over Gram is like a scream. It will never go away, and people don't realize that there are actual people behind these stories.

That's the part that's missing. The people behind the stories. The wives and girlfriends who got left behind when their famous partners died.

The judgement faced against them. The pain that they want to scream but have to bite back.

These are such fantastic stories, and they deserve to be heard.

*Don't look at me like that, not ALL of my reviews are tl:dr.

I was really intrigued by hearing from Rock Star Widows. I don't think they get enough positive attention and clearly, this book shows that. I can't believe all the terrible legal issues most of them went through, while navigating grief from losing their spouses/boyfriends. I liked how the author wrote about losing her husband and how she could relate to all the widows. There was a lot of rock stars I didn't know but the ones I did, there was a lot to their stories that I didn't know. Overall, it was a very enjoyable book.

We read about the death of musicians we loved, we mourn them but it's one of the few times I read what their widows had to say. You read about Yoko, Iman or Courtney but the grief of the women featured in this book is moving and give us another pictures of their husbands
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I found this book of interview with rock and roll widows illuminating. I don't believe in the Great Man Theory of History so it was refreshing to read about how each of these men had a wife and a family behind him, even if they get forgotten as the rock star is elevated and venerated. I learned a lot about musicians whose work I enjoy that is making me give them a second look.

Interesting reading about the lives (and deaths) of a cross section of contemporary musicians. They may be different but the stories, in the main, were remarkably similar. Inintial struggles, the big break, excess and death well before their time. Leaving a legacy of beautiful music and sadly all too often a partner who is pushed away by the deceased relatives and or business interests. Worth reading.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this one! I knew of most of these ladies, but enjoyed hearing about their journeys through love and grief. Yes, the author does let you know some of her own grief process, but it blends in well. She can relate to the women in this book, and can understand some of what they went through. Not a spoiler, but I'm no longer a fan of Jimmie Vaughan.
Well worth reading!!

The author channeled her experience as a widow with her love of writing and the music industry into this offering where she interviewed "rock widows". I found this a very interesting book concept, as I've always been intrigued by the women rock stars loved. Here are some of the deceased rock stars whose widows were interviewed:

Ronnie Van Zant (Lynryd Skynryd)
Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones)
Mark Bolan (T. Rex)
Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots)
Jim Croce
Stevie Ray Vaughn
George Jones
Gram Parsons (The Byrds)
Levon Helm (The Band)
Harry Chapin
Warren Zevon

Each widow got a chapter which described how they met their mate, their life together, the nature of the rock star's death, and how they dealt with the aftermath. The author also interspersed commentary on her own grief and circumstances involving her husband's death from cancer. As many other reviewers have mentioned, these sections detracted from the book because we are only interested in the deceased rock stars. I feel kind of guilty saying that, but it's true. Luckily these passages were short, and if you have no interest just skim.

Thank you to the publisher Globe Pequot / Backbeat who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

This is an interesting concept, and I enjoyed reading about these women. But, as the book goes on, I had a lot of questions. Jamie Weiland says that Scott didn’t die of an overdose, but that it was heart related. I’m a big fan of Scott and would love to see that story out in public, because that doesn’t show up anywhere but in this book.

This was well written and she spoke to some amazing women. Some of their stories are heartbreaking, some make you angry and some are inspiring. It’s a great mix of women, so many genres covered.

I also felt like the author used her experience as a widow as a way to jumpstart her career. She always wanted to be a writer and be around rock stars, her husband’s death gave her a foot in the door. Her story is interspersed throughout every interview she wrote about and it was really intrusive. It would have made an interesting foreword and epilogue, but it didn’t need to be in every interview.

I’d recommend this, but with a few caveats.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Very cool book.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

This was an amazing book. It's about the widows of rock musicians. It gave me a look inside their lives. We see beyond the glitz and glammer. Good read.

Lori Tucker-Sullivan is a widow, and uses her experiences as such to delve into the lives of "rock" widows. She interviews Nancy Jones, the widow of country musician George Jones; Gretchen Parsons- Carpenter, the partner of Gram Parsons, and others.
Two especially moving interviews were with Judy Van Sant (Stevie Ray), and Sandy Helm (Levon Helm. The author gives these women a voice to not only promote the musical legacy of their partner,but to explore how the women can cope with their loss and move on to accomplish their own dreams.

A short memoir of some of rock’s most famous widows, including Judy Van Zant (Ronnie), Sandy Chapin (Harry), Sandy Helm (Levon), Jamie Weiland (Scott) and Janna Leblanc (longtime girlfriend of Stevie Ray Vaughn), and others who share details of what it was like to live with and lose their husbands.

Some very interesting stories here, especially as many of these musicians lived during the days when people didn’t know how important it was to hang on to your own publishing and merchandising rights, and often others got rich at their expense. A lot of “stand by your man” attitudes here (with apologies to the woman married to George Jones,) with women who stayed in terrible relationships, choices I have a really difficult time understanding in some cases.

The author lost her husband to cancer after having been married for over twenty years, which was sad, but since he wasn’t I wasn’t sure that her discussions about it had any place in the actual finished book, though certainly they would have been appropriate for the Afterword. It seemed a little odd to have her place herself in almost every chapter, though I’m certain her experience helped her speak with the women. From some of the notes it appears that perhaps Marvin Gaye was originally going to be covered in the book, but was left out for some reason? Would really loved to have read that portion. Levon Helm seems like he was a wonderful man and he and his wife seem to have had a unique bond. Lovely. Definitely some good stuff here.

This was a very interesting look at the lives of some rock widows and what their lives were like during and after their husband's deaths.

Deeply personal and respectfully written.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.