On the Cover: Hunter S. Thompson

The current issue of Rolling Stone features an excerpt from the oral history Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson by Jann S. Wenner and Corey Seymour, which will be published by Little, Brown on October 31st. Click through our gallery for photos of the writer as a young man (and images of Thompson with the Hells Angels, his boyhood home and more) plus testimonials from those who knew him from the time he was a child in Kentucky through his triumph with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Here's a taste of the story:

Gene McGarr, who lived and worked with Hunter in New York after Hunter was discharged from the Air Force, recounts, "The last thing he did, in November 1957, was to write up a press release describing a riot that took place at Elgin when the enlisted men attacked the women's quarters and the officer's mess -- stole all the booze, got drunk as shit, attacked the women, beat up two officers. It was a very funny and colorful story -- completely fictional, of course -- and he sent a copy of it to the AP and to UPI, left a copy on his captain's desk, then drove like a son of a bitch for the gate."

For more exclusive excerpts, check out the issue.

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  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
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  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
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  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
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  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Weird”

Hanson | 1997

Accomplished tunesmith Desmond Child co-wrote "Weird" with the three brothers that make up Hanson. Credited for dozens of cuts, including songs by Kiss, Cher, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, Child told Rolling Stone that "Weird" holds a special place in his heart, "because it's about being different--and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!" The song was included on Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere, which sold more than ten million units.

More Song Stories entries »

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