Blackie Lawless Digs Into Hollywood'S Hidden Past In Long-Delayed Memoir "Tales From The Square Mile"

Blackie Lawless Peels Back Hollywood's Glamorous Curtain

W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless is ready to spill the beans on the gritty underbelly of Hollywood in his long-awaited autobiography. The rocker chatted about the book's progress and the real reasons it's been such a slow burn during a recent sit-down with IndiePower TV.

Lawless, whose working title is "Tales From The Square Mile," shared his early California struggles right after arriving in the Golden State. He remembered crashing on floors for the first year, then upgrading to a tiny three-by-twelve-foot closet for a year and a half – literally steps from the Hollywood Palladium where his band played last December.

From Floor-Surfing to Deluxe Closet Living

“Well, the first year [after I moved to California], I slept on people’s floors. I did the floor tour,” Lawless said. “And then I moved into my deluxe accommodations, which was a closet that was three feet by 12 feet, and I was in there for a year and a half. And that was literally right across the street from the Hollywood Palladium, which is where [W.A.S.P.] played the last time [December 2024] we were [in Los Angeles]. Now, that’s about 50 feet away from where I was sleeping in that closet.”

The singer also explained the memoir's massive delay. What started as a quick six-month project has stretched into six years because the scope ballooned from his own story to a full-on history of the town itself.

Why the Memoir Took Six Years Instead of Six Months

“I talked to [Iron Maiden’s] Bruce Dickinson and some other people that wrote books, and I said, ‘Well, how long did it take you to do it?’ And they said, ‘Oh, six months.’ And so I thought, ‘Okay, well, that’s probably what it’ll take.’ Well, six years later, I’m still working on it,” Lawless said.

He noted that Hollywood keeps plowing over its past, unlike places that mark historic spots. Recording studios and management offices from his early days have all vanished or turned into something else – like the Gold Star studio site now sitting as a donut shop.

Rehearsing Between Washing Machines to Owning the Studio

Lawless recalled rehearsing in a laundromat after hours, setting up gear between washers at Santa Monica and Vine. Nine years later he found himself owning a studio just 75 feet away, realizing success hadn't changed much after all.

“And I’m thinking, ‘This is the longest 75 feet I ever walked in my life,’ to get from the laundromat to being the proprietor of this recording studio. How does this happen?” he said. “So you’re living in a better place. You’re driving a better car. You’re eating better food, all that stuff, and you think that success is gonna change everything.”

The Book Won't Be Your Typical Rock 'n' Roll Tell-All

“And what I discovered about the town is, like I said, when you see the book, it’s not your typical sex, drugs and rock and roll,” he said. “I mean, there’s a period of that, but by the time I moved to California, I had a lot of that… I wouldn’t say it was out of my system, but I was ready to go to work. And my story is pretty different than whatever you’ve been used to reading.”

The project now sits at about the halfway point, with a 2027 target release. Lawless has kept busy touring too, with W.A.S.P.'s "1984 To Headless" run hitting Palladium Times Square on October 2, 2026.