Threats Have The Rolling Stones Author In Hiding

Are the Rolling Stones behind a successful cabal to shelve an unfavorable book about the band's history and frighten the book's author? Gloria Shepherd seems to think so. Early this year, her rock bio Brian Jones Straight from the Heart: The Rolling Stones Murder caused a minor firestorm in the UK and resulted in her receiving anonymous death threats. Shepherd is now living in remote Colorado, where she remains in semi-hiding.

The book in question centers on the mysterious death of Brian Jones, a founding member of the Stones, and argues that Jones was murdered and law enforcement was bribed to cover it up. Now the book's been banned in the UK under cloudy legal issues, though it remains a strong seller on Amazon's American site.

Following up on a report from last week, Radar tracked down the author-in-hiding to ask her about the alleged threats. She acknowledges that this may all stem from shadowy people in the Rolling Stones organization and not from Mick, Keith, Ronnie, or Charlie directly, but adds, "First I was threatened by their attorneys in letters, getting nasty, personal e-mails ... Then they [death threats] got really nasty. Before I wrote the book, I was told I was putting my life in danger if I wrote this book. I guess they were right."

Asked whether the move has allayed her fears, Shepherd says only that she's "told the police about these threats, but we still see the cars driving by. I am definitely frightened, and I'm not doing any book signings." In a side note, she claims that people knowledgeable about Jones's death have met unfortunate accidents: one was killed by a subway; another had acid thrown in her face.

Radar wondered if this was merely a publicity stunt, and Shepherd was quick to offer that proceeds from the book go to various charities. "This is not happy publicity," she said. "This is not about me. It's about Brian and his family. This is a cold case, and I want to see it solved."

[via radaronline.com]

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