152 Minutes With Bebe Buell

On a rock-and-roll photo tour with the legendary groupie, who prefers rock girlfriend, or now just rocker. By Jada Yuan Published Sep 25, 2011 Tourists and rock nostalgists perusing theMorrison Hotel Gallery in Soho see iconic photographs of usic legends! Bebe Buell sees her youth" #ear the floor is a photo of Mick $agger, a lo%er" &hey et at an 'ric (lapton sho), says Buell, a odel turned singer, no) 5* and about to release her first big+deal albu , -.t )as on" .t )as, like, instant flirting"/ #e%er ind that Buell )as then li%ing )ith singer+guitarist &odd 0undgren, )ith )ho she )ould continue to co+habitate as she dated $agger, .ggy Pop, 1a%id Bo)ie, and $i y Page, and as she had daughter 2i% &yler, the actress, by Ste%en &yler" -. think e%ery little girl )ould like e3clusi%ity, but that )asn4t ho) it )as" .f you had a 5ealous streak, the se%enties )asn4t your era,/ she says" -6nd . figured if he )as going to date, . )ould date, too" . had lo%ely boyfriends" 7or your first three boyfriends to be Mick $agger, &odd 0undgren, and 1a%id Bo)ie, . don4t think anyone )ould ha%e a proble )ith that"/ #e3t to the photo of $agger is Patti S ith, )ho dated 0undgren before Buell" &he t)o )o en used to put on Stooges records and sing into hairbrushes -pretending

to be rock stars/ back )hen S ith had yet to put usic to her -)acky poe s"/ &here are no photos up of 'l%is (ostello, )ho Buell in her bestselling autobiography, Rebel Heart, declared both the lo%e of her life and a fantastic lay! he no longer speaks to her, for %arious reasons" -8n the record, . )ant to apologi9e to 'l%is if . e%er e barrassed hi talking about )hat a good lo%er he )as,/ she says earnestly" -My reputation is so o%erblo)n" . can count the nu ber of en .4%e been )ith on t)o hands! it 5ust see s like a lot because you recogni9e their na es,/ she says, )earing %intage boots e broidered )ith flo)ers, her hair still blonde, her eyes large and blue" She sits astride a gallery bench as if riding a horse" -. consider :groupie4 a se3ist ter , and . think it4s isused" . )as a free agent" . )as a %ery independent, successful girl" . ade y o)n oney, . bought y o)n airline tickets" ;hen . got a paycheck, . )ent to Bergdorf and . bought y o)n clothes" &here )ere no rock stars buying e y clothes"/ See lso &he <ulture &ranscript, Bebe Buell She opens a coffee+table book and points to a photograph of herself, odeling, co%ered in daisies and only slightly less naked than she )as in her 1=>? Playboy spread" -;e had hair on our hoochees back then, yeah, baby@/ she says about the centerfold" -.t al ost looks like . had a fur bikini"/ But by the

eighties, she4d taken a page fro her drag+Aueen friends and started )a3ing" -. )as ahead of the cur%e e%en )ith that" .4%e al)ays been a pioneer@/ Buell4s ne) albu , Hard Love, )as co+produced by her husband, $i ;allerstein Ba"k"a" $i y ;allsC, )ho also plays lead guitar" .t4s not her first ti e in the studio! she4s been trying to get her singing career going for o%er D0 years, )ith a deep, raspy %oice that she put to use in high+school choir and hotel+roo sing+alongs" Eeith 0ichards encouraged her to start her o)n band, as did good friend 0ic 8casek, )ho in 1=*0 sent her into the studio backed by the (ars! later, Bebe Buell and the B+Sides opened for 6lice (ooper" .n 1=*?, $ohn &aylor of 1uran 1uran for ed the supergroup Po)er Station around her! e%entually 0obert Pal er took her place" .n 1==1, her ne3t band, the harder+edged group the Gargoyles, )as offered a si3+figure record deal" She turned it do)n to stay ho e and raise 2i%, )ho )as starting high school, beginning a odeling career, and )atching the public disco%er )ho her father )as" BBuell had kept it secret fro 2i% throughout her childhood, until her dad )as sober"C -People thought . )as cra9y,/ she says" -But . ade a choice that . needed to be a really good o " . al)ays look to $ackie Eennedy" She said, :.f you ess up )ith your children, )hat4s the pointF4 .4 5ust going to say it + bluntly, .4 not (ourtney 2o%e" . )ant to kick people4s asses that don4t put their kids first" &hey suck"/ Buell4s fa%orite song off the ne) albu is -Mother of 0ock G 0oll,/ a na e that plays off the perception that

for so any years, she4s 5ust been - other of 2i%, girlfriend of that,/ as she puts it" -. ean, . ha%e )orn a lot of hats" But )hat . really a is a rock onster" . a a rock+and+roll achine, and . don4t ha%e an e3piration date" . a like one of those G"'" dish)ashers )ith a t)enty+year guarantee"/