''Crazy from the Heat'' is the autobiography of former

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

lead vocalist and successful American solo artist

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

. The book, published in 1997, shares its name with Roth's debut release as a solo artist, more specifically 1985's '' Crazy from the Heat'' EP. The cover of the book shows Roth returning to the scene where the artwork for the EP was taken and striking a different pose, this time with a woman in his arms. The cover artwork for the EP was taken in the

Seychelle Islands Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

. A

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

graduate student recorded around 100 hours of Roth's

monologues In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

and transcribed them onto 1200 pages, from which the 359-page book was edited. The book, written while Roth was a solo artist, tells of Roth's experiences not only as a member of Van Halen and a solo musician but also about his childhood (he was born in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

hobby and between recording/touring experiences. Roth also discusses how his Jewish background impacted his performances, and shows a photo of his fourth grade class, which according to the caption included Stephen Hawking,

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

, two members of

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

, and

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

(presumably this is an

inside joke An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...

as Hawking, Stone and Gore are significantly older than Roth. Journey members

Neal Schon Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

and

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

are however the same age as Roth). Towards the end of the book, Roth shares his view of the failed 1996 Van Halen reunion which yielded two new tracks on the album Best of Van Halen Vol. 1 and an appearance at that year's

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

. The book also features some of Roth's poetry which had never been officially published before. The book was a US bestseller, spending time on the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

bestseller list.

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

"worked closely" with Roth on the project and advised him on a

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

album or tour, which has not yet

materialized Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Accordi ...

References

* https://lauralieff.com/david-lee-roth-crazy-from-the-heat/ * https://ew.com/article/1997/10/24/book-review-crazy-heat/ * https://www.avclub.com/david-lee-roth-crazy-from-the-heat-1798194128 * https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780786863396 American autobiographies David Lee Roth Music autobiographies {{music-bio-book-stub 1997 non-fiction books