Bebe Buell is an iconic female figure in the history of rock music. She is, these days, most famous for being the mother to Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv, however, true rock people know that Bebe is a legendary figure all on her own. She has done it all, including a lot of famous rock stars, and lived to tell the tale. Her words and personality helped created the character Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous and her escapades throughout the 1970’s are very well known. She is an author, a Playboy Playmate, a super model and a famous former groupie – err, boyfriend to the stars – err, not sure of the proper term to use in these days of political correctness. Suffice it to say Bebe is truly one of a kind.

While Bebe does not deny her past escapades, she is at a place in her life where she no longer wants to drag the baggage of her past around any longer. Granted, she is famous for all of the aforementioned occupations, however, she is also a singer/songwriter and an amazing performer. In fact, now married for 12 years, Bebe’s wild days are well behind her. Her current passion is making, and performing, music.

She has recently released a new album titled, Hard Love, on Wendy Dio’s label Niji Entertainment and is ready to hit the road, taking her high-octane stage show out on the road.

In the interview that follows, Bebe talks candidly about her current album and the struggles she has had leading up to the now. We discuss how the universe aligned perfectly in order for her to meet her soul sister, Wendy Dio, and begin her current rock n’ roll journey. Bebe also opens up about how she kept the true identity of Liv Tyler’s father a mystery and how proud she is of her daughter.

Bebe is one open and honest rock chick. She is not only good people… she is a Rock Person, through and through, dedicated to bringing rock music back to the masses.

Bebe: I actually released an album called Sugar in 2009. This new one is my first full on rock record with my band. Sugar had a lot of machines; a lot of ProTools, which isn’t my favorite way to make a record. I was chomping at the bit to get back into the studio.

I did not hate Sugar, by any means at all; I still have an affection for the record, even though it isn’t a full on force, like my live show, and like what I play from my heart. We took a few songs from Sugar that were everybody’s favorites, and re-recorded them for Hard Love. There are four songs from Sugar on this one so people can hear them.

Bebe: That’s why it’s called Hard Love. It is from a place of extreme, massive love and gratitude. There are all kinds of emotions on it that I’m dealing with in my life at this time. My fan base is what got me back, passionately making music and performing back in 1998. Now, Wendy Dio is involved and I have this amazing manager, and this amazing family, around me, which is unbelievable. I was sort of blissfully in that zone when she met me.

Bebe: I’ve been playing in bands for over thirty years – its not like it’s a hobby. This is really the only thing I know how to do, as far as a job goes. My real life, my art and my job have all sort of mushed together. I can’t really survive without this outlet. I become extremely unhappy if I’m not making music.

Music has been a strong force for me, even as a child. I wouldn’t function too well if I didn’t have it. People get distracted by me over the years, as some people know me as a model, some people know me as Liv’s mother and some people know me because of all these cool guys I have dated in my life. What happened this time was that the songs were just there. My musical partner put it together and the production is just amazing. I feel like I have my own Rick Rubin. This sounds like the record I’ve always wanted to make. For me, to finally have a record sound exactly how I heard it in my head, and how I envisioned it, is wonderful. It is so wonderful to have an album that is so close to the way I sound when I perform live.

I also have a lot of doubters. Some people can’t imagine what it is like to see me on a stage. I am kind of genderless and I don’t mean that sexually, as I’m far from being able to pass as a boy. I am very much a woman, but the person that I become, or the person that I channel, when I’m onstage, has a lot of male energy and I don’t know where that comes from. Maybe it comes from my obsession with Mick Jagger. It comes over me and it is very empowering. Doubters are my favorite people to play for. They just think, “She’s that chick who posed for Playboy.” Well, so did Debbie Harry and a bunch of others, who are very talented in rock ‘n’ roll; they’ve dated a lot of rock stars too.

Bebe: I don’t want to carry that baggage around with me anymore. I’ve been married to the same man now for 12 years. I am very disciplined and devoted to what I do. When you put this much into what you do then you want people to both celebrate, and remember, what you did when you were a kid because that’s the legacy of who you are, but you also want people to celebrate you for the person you’ve become now. I think that is very important.

Bebe: I just went with the wind. When Vogue magazine said I could be a model I just said, “Okay.” When Playboy said I could be a Playmate I said, “Okay.” I was 18 and I was at the ‘okay’ age. I have worn a few hats but I don’t think that should constrict me in my art. I was also a good parent but I think that was the right decision.

Bebe: How many people can actually say they inspired a character in a movie like I did for Cameron Crowe in Almost Famous? You do it and you move on. Lets face it, 1973 was a fun and amazing year. I’m sure that the Penny Lane character is based on a whole lot of people, but that story line was very familiar with me.

Cameron Crowe really did go on the road with Todd Rundgren and stay out for a couple of weeks. It got crazy. We were kids, he and I, so of course we bonded. I was madly in love with Jimmy Page at the time. Those were typical distractions you go through when you’re 18.

Bebe: I think the all of the adventurous I took were just different. Some people go live in a cabin for eight years, take heroin and then come back and make the album of their career. The life of the early ‘70’s, which I was fortunate enough to experience, and am young enough to be talking about it now, and old enough to remember it completely, so I am just really grateful for the life I lived. I tell the doubters to come see me live. Let me kick your ass and then we can talk about all of this other stuff, if you’re still interested in talking about it.

The song “Mother of Rock ‘n’ Roll” addresses all that. I am not fifteen, and I’m not trying to be fifteen. I have more energy – I’ve been clocked at doing over seven miles on stage during a performance. I will go up against any of these kids today. Put them up there and I’ll go up there and we’ll see who keels over first!

I actually wrote the lyrics to “Mother of Rock ‘n’ Roll” one day when I was walking around New York and I was listening to the Stones song “She’s My Little Rock ‘n’ Roll.” I thought, “I’m the mother of rock ‘’n’ roll,” meaning my daughter, Liv. Then it hit me and I thought, “Oh my God, wait a minute, maybe I really am the mother of rock ‘n’ roll.” It was that typical egoistical thing that all of us lead singers have. Who else is going to have the balls to say that, let alone get up there and delivery it? I couldn’t come up with anybody else, so I’m it.

Bebe: Wendy saw me live when I was playing a birthday party for a rock photographer. It was October 26, 2010, I’ll never forget the night. I dressed up as a Devil because it was so close to Halloween; I had red horns. I’d never dressed that way in my life but it was the Halloween season. Dean Schachtel, who used to be with Steve Vai’s label at Warner Brothers had been eyeing me for a tour for quite a few years. Wendy and Dean were uptown at a TJ Martell event. Someone said they had to go because Bebe Buell is getting ready to go on stage downtown. Dean said, “You’re shitting me. Wendy, we’ve got to go. We’ve got to get downtown and see Bebe.” They got in their car and they went downtown. Wendy was sitting at the bar twiddling her thumbs thinking, “What has he got me into?” She said, “Dean, I like this music that is playing over the speakers. What is this?” Dean goes, “That’s her.” Wendy goes, “Where is she?” The stage was in the other room. They went around to the other room and she saw me perform. It was just one of those nights where everything was aligned. I met her afterwards and we just had this rock chick love. It was an affinity and an immediate understanding of each other. You don’t have to explain what I do to Wendy, not even a little bit, she totally gets it. When I told her that I wanted to make a rock record, and not a dance record, she liked it. I don’t want people to think of me as Grace Jones, who I love, but I’m not her. I’m not Marianne Faithful either. I’m a rock chick and I always have been. There are so few real rock chicks left; there are not a whole lot of us.

Bebe: I had never met her in my life.

Bebe: It really was. When I looked over from the stage, the way the lights were hitting me, all I could see what this beautiful white hair. Afterwards, Dean comes up to me and says, “Bebe!” I had never met Dean in person either – I had never met any of these people before. It was truly amazing.

We met a couple of times after that and we talked. I told Wendy that it wasn’t going to be easy because she has an enormous legacy with Ronnie. Ronnie was beyond an opera singer, he was an amazing talent and there was nobody like him. She looked at me and she said, “Are you forgetting that I’ve already seen you live? I know what you sound like, I know what you move like, and I like it. I get it and I want people to see this.” Who knows if we will get anywhere but I notice that my fans are getting younger. I have a very big young girl following, which I’ve acquired from being Liv’s mother. To be honest, I like being the mother of Liv Tyler. I am so proud of her.

Bebe: I don’t like talking about politics or my problems. The Liberace in me comes out and I just want to be seen as an entertainer who makes people happy. I did have some really rough years. I went through a lot of stuff that started around 1998 and continued up till 2007. You know when people that you trust screw you over? You can’t call yourself a full on Goddess until you’ve been had by a conman. I went through some grim stuff and I promised myself that I wasn’t going to let myself get jaded and that I wasn’t going to hide from it. I decided to make it head on. The music really helped.

You called it a personal record and I think you can tell that from the lyrics. My writing partner understands that I am releasing something and that it is being set to music. We are putting it out there for other people to share their experience from. He pushed me to say what I felt, even if it was fifteen years ago. It’s great because I don’t have to waste my money going to a shrink anymore [laughter]. I can actually get it out in a lyric, give it to him, and he can make a song out of it. I will give him a hook and a melody and he makes it magic.

Bebe: I tell people not to ignore these messages that we get from God, or whatever it is that is in charge. I have to believe there is a higher power – that’s my personal belief. I try to just be as good as I can. I try to be compassionate and learn from everything that I do. I feel like I’m a wealth of knowledge.

I can help these young girls love themselves, and help them reaLive that they can do anything that they want. There is no expiration date. Anybody that tells you there’s an expiration date is an evil bitch. Don’t listen to them.

Bebe: I am insecure. I don’t know one entertainer that isn’t. We go up and down like a yoyo. One minute I’m down on myself, and the next minute I’m strutting around like a peacock. I get it all out when I play live shows.

I want to be touring and the fact that I’m not is tough. I’m very impatient and I really want to get on the road.

Bebe: I was born living rock ‘n’ roll. I also had this thing for Edgar Allen Poe, which was probably not normal for an eight year old. I was attracted to English culture. When I was ten years old and the British Invasion happened I was hooked. It was a combination of the devil, music and English culture. I loved the way everybody dressed and I just had an affinity for it. It’s in my DNA. Some of us are Rock People and some of us aren’t. We should have our own gender. If there is transgender and whatever else there is then why isn’t there a Rock Person? It’s a breed!”

Bebe: Once you get a taste then there is no turning back. I tell people to make sure this is the life that you really want because once you’re involved in this then there is no turning back.

Bebe: I want to be like Iggy Pop. I want to be on the road. I’ve got a very strong work ethic as I was born in the South and we don’t dillydally. Iggy falls into our category; he’s a Rock Person.

Bebe: I have taken drugs and I have had flirtations with drugs; especially pot. I never did pills or needles. Any time I ever did any hard drugs I ended up with my head in the toilet, or my face pressed against the tiles. If you’ve got an addictive personality, then even if it hurts you will go forward and do it again. That’s the difference between me and my daughter’s dad. When he falls off he has to go to rehab. I’m not an addict. I don’t smoke cigarettes either. It’s not like I didn’t try. I just didn’t like them. There are a lot of old pictures of me standing there with a cigarette that isn’t even lit.

In the early ‘70’s, it was all about our props. I really laugh about that now. I am glad that I can enjoy a glass of champagne but I don’t want anything that is going to make me sick or hurt me. I want to feel really strong and good.

Bebe: I’m proud of my daughter. It is wonderful to know that you did a good job of being a mother. I turned out this beautiful girl. It was imperfect, and I had to get help from my family, but it turned out well.

Bebe: It’s not that hard if they’re in bad shape. Steven was in no condition to be a father. He is one of my favorite people and I really consider him one of my best friends – you know, I think I can even out run him on stage [laughter]. In fact, at this point, I know I could.

To get back to your question, it wasn’t that hard because he was in such bad shape. When he finally did meet her, it was in 1986, when she was nine years old. He had just been put into rehab and had only been a couple of weeks sober. He was not meeting her as that creepy guy he had been.

He had seen many pictures of her during the lost years and we kept in touch. I pushed away from him after a while because his drug use was very frightening. It was at a level to where it got really ugly and guttery; it wasn’t pretty. Nobody wanted to watch it.

It was only hard when Liv got to be a little older and I was going to have to come clean. I wondered when it would happen. I wasn’t quite sure if I should wait until she was eighteen. I didn’t want to disrespect Todd. I was trying to hold it altogether but then I went, “You know what, the most important person here is Liv. The grown ups can all get together and deal with it.” Then, she solved all of that one night. Steven called up and said, “I’ll send a car for you and you all can come to the gig.” It was August of 1988. Guns n Roses were opening for Aerosmith. I brought Liv along and she met Mia, who is 18 months younger than she is. They look like bookends. It was one of those moments where the children figured it out. Liv flat out asked me, “Is he my dad.” What am I supposed to do? It wasn’t like I signed any kind of agreement with anybody. I just had to follow my heart, and my heart said I had to be honest.

Bebe: She was only 14 or 15 when all of this hubbub started up and I wasn’t going to let any of those barracudas around her. I wanted to spare her that and I wanted her to become savvy. Now, you can put her right in the tank with those people. She knows exactly what she’s doing as she is smart and very poised. She wants a long career and the way she’s handling things is perfect. It was a good thing that I was there in the beginning as I think that she has achieved something that a lot of other kids with rock n’ roll parents have not achieved.

Bebe: There is a lot of talent in these kids -- I’m not going to start mentioning names because I’ve known half of them since they were born. Some of them have parents that really don’t let them suffer at all, or learn how to stand on their own two feet. Most of these kids grow up really rich. Liv and I had some really lean years. There were times that Todd didn’t have the money to pay any child support, even though he willingly wanted too. I was working three jobs and I was touring with bands. She knows what it’s like and she has work ethic. She knows what its like to work hard, struggle and to get things because she worked for it. I think she is different in that aspect and I think it has helped her.

Bebe: I just accept it. I allow whatever is supposed to happen to happen. I don’t try to interfere in whatever the destiny of my future will be. I only try to do my best work so that if something amazing happens, I’m ready.

I’m going on a couple of these late night shows and that’s going to be fun. I’ve never played on those shows. I’ve gone on those shows as a guest but I’ve never played on them with my band. It’s going to be wonderful for me. I can’t tell you how excited I am. I don’t mean that in a hokey way at all; I mean it in the name of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s time for people to start listening to rock music again and clean the cobwebs out of their heads. It’s time for people to allow the purity of the energy of the people who are on stage throwing down for you, it’s coming from their crotches and it’s coming from their hearts and it’s coming from a real place. It’s not like this condensed, monotonous trans stuff. I have this need to get the rock rocking again.

www.bebebuell.org