Lips Unsealed: A Memoir

About this book

The women of the iconic eighties band the Go-Gos will always be remembered as they appeared on the back of their debut record: sunny smiling each soaking in her own private bubble bath with chocolates and champagne. The photo is a perfect tribute to the fun irreverent brand of pop music that the Go-Gos created but it also conceals the trials and secret demons that the members of the groupand in particular its lead singer Belinda Carlislestruggled with on their rise to stardom. Leaving her unstable childhood home at the age of eighteen Belinda battled serious weight issues having been teased for her pudginess throughout grade school and grappled with her confusion about being deserted by her biological father as a child. This talented but misguided teen found solace in the punk rock world that so openly welcomed misfitseven though acceptance had its price. Not long after forming the Go-Gos became queens of the L.A. punk scenethey sold out venues attracted a fiercely loyal fan base and outpartied almost every male band they toured withand in the process kicked down the doors to the all-boys club of eighties rock and roll. With a chart-topping debut album Belinda found herself launched to international superstardomand with that fame came more access to A-list parties and even more alcohol and drugs to fuel Go-Gos mania. Inevitably Belinda began to self-destruct. Lips Unsealed is filled with the wild stories that Belinda Carlisle fans are dying to hearstories about the bands crazy days on tour with acts like the Police and Madness and the fabulous parties and people to whom the Go-Gos had exclusive access. But more than that this candid memoir reveals the gritty flip side to the glitz as Belinda shares her private struggles with abusive relationships weight and self-esteem and a thirty-year battle with drug and alcohol addiction. This spellbinding and shocking look at her rise fall and eventual rebirth as a wife mother and sober artist will leave you wistfully fantasizing about the eighties decadence she epitomized but also cringing at the dark despair hidden behind her charming smile. One of the rare adventures through rock stardom told by a woman Lips Unsealed is ultimately a love letter to musicto the members of the Go-Gos whove maintained lifelong friendships and to the beloved husband and son who led Belinda to sobrietyand the story of a life that though deeply flawed was and is still fully lived.