There’s a high cost to fame. That’s what you’ll learn with Cherie Currie’s book, “Neon Angel – A Memoir of a Runaway”. The lead singer of The Runaways takes an open, candid and sometimes raw look at her early years with her family, her time with the all-female band that rose to fame in the 1970s, her battle with drug addiction and the years since departing the line-up.

Living in California with her three siblings, including older sister, Sandra, twin sister, Marie, and younger brother, Don, Cherie talks about the impact of her parent’s split, the rape suffered at the hands of her sister’s then boyfriend, and trying to find her own unique identity by emulating her favorite singer, the iconic rock star, David Bowie.

During a visit to one of her favorite clubs, the Sugar Shack, Cherie, still a high school teenager, meets music manager, Kim Fowley, and is invited to audition for an all-female rock band he’s helping to put together. The chance meeting would prove to be a double-edged sword—it would skyrocket Cherie, along with the Runaways, to international fame but would also be the catalyst of her spiral into the world of drugs.

When the song Cherie picked to audition didn’t go over too well with the band, guitarist, Joan Jett, along with Fowley, quickly penned a song that would forever be associated with the Runaways— “Cherry Bomb”. Along with Cherie and Joan, the band would also include guitarist Lita Ford, drummer Sandy West, and bassist Jackie Fox, who later be replaced by Vicki Blue when she exited.

The Runaways shot to fame with their “Cherry Bomb” tune, and after the release of their self-titled debut album in 1976, they found themselves in a whirlwind of touring as well as being swept up in the seedier side of the music world. Cherie would eventually leave the band in 1977 to venture out on a career as a solo artist as well as part of a duo with sister, Marie.

Cherie also details her personal battles with drug addiction as well as being kidnapped by a psychotic stalker. Despite the downsides of fame, Cherie has forged ahead, becoming a wife (she married actor Robert Hays before divorcing amicably in 1997) and mother, while working, not only as a musician, but as an actress, a counselor for kids effected by drug and alcohol abuse and, in recent years, has found a passion for chainsaw woodcarving.

Cherie’s memoir, “Neon Angel”, would be adapted into the 2010 movie, “The Runaways”, starring Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon.