She turned down Elvis, kissed Alice Cooper, and had an affair with a married man. Life has always been a tug-of-war for the leather-clad rock icon
She was barely out of the international charts during the ’70s, and three decades later the legendary Suzi Quatro still rocks with the best of them. Leather clad and ballsy, Suzi at 57 is a woman clearly in her prime, and fits a pair of tight Levi’s way better than most of us a third of her age.
The seemingly ageless rocker meets Woman’s Day for a revealing, warts-and-all chat about her life and the launch of her autobiography Unzipped.
Your honesty in your book is bracing, even confronting. Is that what you intended?
I intended to write the truth. I wanted it to be what I went through. I didn’t want to paint myself as a saint which I’m not. I wanted people to know the real journey because success always comes with a price.
Your father’s response to your worldwide success with the song Stumblin’ In [with Smokie’s Chris Norman] was very strange. He wanted to know why you dueted with someone other than a family member …
I know, I couldn’t believe it. Instead of saying, ‘Oh great you have a hit.’ My dad’s got dementia, he’s in a home now. I think he had a bit of jealousy all his life, because I think he had dreams of being a very successful musician, and his nose is a little bit out of joint that I was the only one and that I didn’t take the family with me.
It’s families isn’t it? He gave me love of music, I give him all the praise in the world for that, but these things are lessons in life. And it bothered me until it didn’t. A lesson to learn. Stop asking for the applause, stop asking to be the star in the family, they’re never going to let you. Now I don’t try that any more. I learned this from my second husband. He said, “You’re making everybody too important.” We all have to survive families.
You say we wouldn’t have had a Suzi Quatro without Elvis, but we also wouldn’t have had a Chrissie Hynde or Joan Jett without Suzi Quatro.
That’s right. I was the first, which I’m proud of. We’re friends, I’ve known Joan for a long time and Chrissie is lovely, she came on my This Is Your Life. She said, ‘I really wanted to be you’ which was very, very sweet of her. She also interviewed me when she was a rock journo.
It’s amazing reading the book and you’re there for all these amazing moments in rock history and pop culture, but they’re almost like throw-away lines.
Yes I know, it is like that. Iggy Pop — I kicked him off the stage. I’m lying in bed having my affair in Dallas and we see Robert Kennedy assassinated on the TV. Things like that. Life is strange. My life has always been strange.
Your sister Patty. There seems to be a lot of issues there between you? She feels that you got it all and she got nothing?
Yes there is.
How are you going to resolve it?
It’s not up to me to resolve, but she did call me about a month ago and we actually talked about all this stuff. She said, “I understand there are some issues,” she said, “Why didn’t you tell me?” I said, “Well I’m out there doin’ it and being successful and you’re struggling, and I’m going to hit you with this as well.” I just never felt right bringing it up. And then we went through everything. We talked about it all. I can’t see how she’ll mind the book because there are so many loving things about her in the book. I hope the book helps to illuminate what we’ve been through. I’m hoping to hear back from her once she’s read it. I stand by every phrase in this book.
You’ve written a stage musical about 1930s actress, Tallulah Bankhead in which you play her. Is that going to the West End?
My co-writer Shirley trying to get it back up in England. If we get it back up we’ll then tour it. It was a great show. I think it was a little bit before its time, but now that I’ve had theatre success on the West End in Annie Get Your Gun, it may help to get it up.
Suzi’s autobiography Unzipped (Hodder & Stoughton, paperback $35) and her new album Back To The Drive (EMI) are out now.
For more of this interview, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on-sale October 1)
Related stories
Native ad body.
.png?resize=380%2C285)
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
