Elton John has signed on to pen a book about his personal experiences during the global AIDS epidemic, including remembrances of friends and peers who died from complications of the disease, such as Queen star Freddie Mercury.

Proceeds of Love Is the Cure, which is expected to be released in July to coincide with an international AIDS conference in Washington, D.C., will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The book will be published by Hodder and Stoughton. An audio version of the book, which will be read by John himself, will be released simultaneously.

"This is a disease that must be cured not by a miraculous vaccine, but by changing hearts and minds," John said in a statement. "Why are we not doing more? This is a question I have thought deeply about, and wish to answer – and to help change – by writing this book."

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