The Kennedy Chronicles

Kennedy’s “entertaining and irreverant” memoir reliving the pop music and the madness as an MTV VJ in the 1990s (Booklist).

As an MTV VJ, host of Alternative Nation, and correspondent for MTV News, the woman known to millions simply as Kennedy gives us a backstage pass at the last golden years of the cable network that defined a generation.

As only Kennedy can, she takes us back to unforgettable moments such as Nirvana’s seminal performance on MTV Unplugged, the unbridled bacchanalia of the MTV Beach House and Woodstock ‘94 festival, and the game-changing “Rock the Vote” campaign. We read of priceless moments on and off set with such performers as Bjork, Pearl Jam, Weezer, No Doubt, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Oasis, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And Kennedy dishes on behind-the-scenes antics with MTV colleagues including Jon Stewart, Bill Bellamy, Kurt Loder, and Tabitha Soren.

Kennedy recounts a blitz of surreal encounters: Dragging Stewart to a strip club. Getting naked with Jenny McCarthy. Playing dice on the men’s room floor with Michael Jordan. Wrestling with Trent Reznor. Making out in a coffin with Dave Navarro. Dodging calls from Courtney Love. Serving as John Rzeznik’s muse for the Goo Goo Dolls hit song “Name.” And there was that incident with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the Video Music Awards. Kennedy intersperses her riotous narrative with candid interviews with Navarro, Henry Rollins, Billy Corgan, Pat Smear of Nirvana, Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, former VJ John Sencio, and more.

The perfect book for anyone who wants to know what really went on at MTV.