Tune in to IGTV on April 20, 22 and 24 at 4 p.m. EDT for Live Chats, Excerpt Readings and Q&A Sessions
New Book, “I Am Michael Alago,” Available Now
Music industry veteran Michael Alago has scheduled Live Chats with IGTV to promote the release of his new autobiography, I am Michael Alago, released on March 25 via Backbeat Books.
Alago will be on IGTV Live Chats Monday, April 20, Wednesday, April 22 and Friday, April 24 at 4 p.m. EDT to discuss music, films, art, theatre, read excerpts from I am Michael Alago, and conduct a Q&A session.
Michael Alago is the quintessential New Yorker with an “only in New York” career. Passionate about music, art and literature, the legendary music executive and published photographer is known for his extraordinary work with Metallica, White Zombie, John Lydon, Cyndi Lauper and Nina Simone.
Alago grew up in Brooklyn, in a large, spirited, and devoted Puerto Rican family. Through his early
passion for music, art, theater, and photography, he soon found himself rubbing elbows with many
downtown NYC scene makers, from Stiv Bators to Jean Michel Basquiat, Cherry Vanilla and Wayne County to Deborah Harry and Robert Mapplethorpe. As an underage teenager going to Max’s Kansas City, CBGB and various art galleries, Alago also began running the Dead Boys’ fan club. A few years later, Alago became the assistant music director for legendary nightclubs the Ritz and the Red Parrot.
At age 24, he began a storied career as an A&R executive at Elektra Records that started with signing
Metallica in the summer of 1984, changing the entire landscape of rock and heavy metal. Alago
continued to work in A&R for both Palm Pictures and Geffen Records.
In the late 1980s, Alago was diagnosed with HIV, which manifested into full-blown AIDS 10 years later, a diagnosis that equaled death at that time. But with the advancement of medical science and the foresight of a brilliant doctor, he survived and continued his music career. In 2005, he left music to pursue his other love: photography. Alago went on to publish three bestselling books: Rough Gods, Brutal Truth and Beautiful Imperfections with German-based publisher Bruno Gmünder.
Alago has also since overcome his longtime addiction to drugs and alcohol. In his clean and sober life, he has reconnected with his family, continues to be a working photographer as well as record producer, and only through the grace of his 12-step program is he able to live this big, beautiful life. Who the Fuck Is That Guy? The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago, a 2017 documentary directed by Drew Stone and produced by Michael Alex on Alago’s wildly successful career in music, was released in theaters and on Netflix, where it is now in its third year. The film is also now available on Amazon Prime Video.
I am Michael Alago was co-written with Laura Davis-Chanin. It is available via Backbeat Books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, IndieBound and Rowman & Littlefield.
