Skin, the lead vocalist of multi-million-selling rock band Skunk Anansie, has announced details of her book It Takes Blood and Guts. The book, which is co-written with music journalist, biographer and broadcaster Lucy O’Brien, will be released in hardback on 24th September 2020.
“It’s been a very difficult thing being a lead singer of a rock band looking like me and it still is,” Skin says. “I have to say it’s been a fight and it will always be a fight. That fight drives you and makes you want to work harder… It’s not supposed to be easy, particularly if you’re a woman, you’re black or you are gay like me. You’ve got to keep moving forward, keep striving for everything you want to be. It’s been a fight, and there has been a personal cost, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
From her difficult childhood growing up in Brixton to forming Skunk Anansie in the backrooms of London’s pubs in the ‘90s, from the highs of headlining Glastonbury to the toll her solo career took on her personal life, Skin’s life has been extraordinary. She talks powerfully about her work as social and cultural activist, championing LGBTQ+ rights at a time when few artists were out and gay.
Told with honesty and passion, It Takes Blood and Guts is the story of how a black, working-class girl with a vision fought poverty and prejudice to write songs, produce and front her own band, and become one of the most influential women in British rock.
Pre-order a limited signed copy of It Takes Blood and Guts HERE.
