Roddy Bottum, the keyboardist for Faith No More, has spoken about his new autobiography, The Royal We, in which he details his sexual awakening, heroin overdose, and relationships with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. The memoir, he says, is deliberately provocative, aiming to challenge homophobia and racism, and even to upset his Christian relatives at Thanksgiving.
Bottum describes growing up in Los Angeles before moving to San Francisco in 1981, where he joined what would become Faith No More. The band, he recalls, was ‘absolutely preposterous’, centred around repetitive heavy grooves played under the influence of drugs, with a frontman who ‘didn’t have a good singing voice’. Despite this, they achieved mainstream success with their third album in 1990.
The memoir does not dwell on fame, instead focusing on Bottum’s personal struggles. He writes openly about having sex with men from a young age, including encounters in public toilets and parks. ‘I had sex with older men in bushes,’ he writes. ‘Shamefully at first, proudly later. Fuck off.’ Bottum says he wants to be provocative in the current political climate, adding: ‘With Trump in power, my truth needs to be shouted loud.’
Bottum also recounts his close friendship with Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. He describes Love as ‘a warm, compassionate person’ who was unfairly maligned. The book includes an episode where Bottum and Love had a brief sexual relationship that resulted in a pregnancy and abortion. Bottum says he and Love were ‘soulmates’ who took care of each other.
Reflecting on his career, Bottum notes that he was often the only openly gay man in rock music. ‘I was the only out queer guy in rock,’ he says. The memoir, he hopes, will challenge perceptions and provoke discussion, even if it means ruining family dinners. ‘I have relatives who are Christian people, and it’s absolutely my intention to ruin their Thanksgiving dinner with this book.’
