GLENN HUGHES: 'I Went To The Edge Of The Cliff Of Insanity'

Legendary singer and bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) has just released his long-awaited autobiography, "Deep Purple And Beyond: Scenes From The Life Of A Rock Star", via Foruli Publications. The book, co-written with Joel McIver and featuring an introduction by METALLICA's Lars Ulrich, is being made available in a luxury first edition complete with rare photos and an exclusive 10-inch vinyl EP featuring the following all-new recordings:

* "What Is A Woman's Role?" (TRAPEZE, written by Hughes)
* "Holy Man" (DEEP PURPLE, written by Hughes, David Coverdale, Jon Lord)
* "Dying To Live" (brand new acoustic Glenn Hughes track)

Speaking to FaceCulture about his autobiography (see video below),Hughes said, "In the '70s and '80s, I was a very notorious drug addict, I was a very famous cocaine addict. I don't say that to be arrogant, but I was one of the first rock stars to become, 'Oh, Glenn Hughes, he's a cocaine addict.'"

"There are things that I never told anybody until the book. Let's just say that I disappeared in the '90s for awhile and nobody knew where I was and I didn't tell anybody. People thought I was actually on a boat in the Mediterranean and I wasn't I was somewhere else. I was basically being another person under another name being completely isolated and it almost killed me."

"I wanted to experiment. I wanted to be alone and I wanted to live under a different name and I wanted to travel alone with no one [knowing] where I was. I only disappeared five or six times in three years Let's just say that I was on my journey."

"When I got sober a long time ago, and let's just say that I wanted to experiment with other drugs and other things and other people and I wanted to be anonymous. I wanted to go under another name and I wanted to travel. I wanted to do it without [being] in the public eye in my hometown in the country where I live; I wanted to disappear and there is no greater city in the world to go dark than Amsterdam. If you want weird, it's here. And the fact of the matter is, it got so fucking weird that it scared the shit out of me. Let's just say that I went to the edge of the cliff of insanity.

"I had this clarity moment where I said, "Well, I can either jump over here and go insane' 'cause I was really, really going insane and I just turned back and became the man that I am now."

A launch event for the book will be held tonight (Thursday, May 12) in London, England. The evening will feature a solo acoustic set by Glenn, a preview of the book packages, and the opportunity to meet Glenn, co-author Joel McIver and the team at Foruli.

"Deep Purple And Beyond: Scenes From The Life Of A Rock Star" features contributions from Hughes' friend and comrade in DEEP PURPLE David Coverdale, his lifelong musical collaborator Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH and a host of others, including Angie Bowie, John Varvatos and the members of THE KLF (with whom Hughes scored a global hit in 1991).

The publisher, Foruli Publications, is a globally-recognized specialist in collectable, high-quality books.

For more information, visit www.foruli.co.uk.