Cameron Crowe reveals he made 'unspoken' amends with Gregg Allman after 'Almost Famous' Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY October 29, 2025 at 12:04 AM 0 Decades before he was an Oscarwinning filmmaker, Cameron Crowe was a plucky teen journalist chasing David Bowie and Alice Cooper.
- - Cameron Crowe reveals he made 'unspoken' amends with Gregg Allman after 'Almost Famous'
Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY October 29, 2025 at 12:04 AM
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Decades before he was an Oscar-winning filmmaker, Cameron Crowe was a plucky teen journalist chasing David Bowie and Alice Cooper.
In his new memoir "The Uncool" (out now), the "Say Anything…" director reflects on his wunderkind career at Rolling Stone in the 1970s, and some of his most formative interviews and experiences that went on to inspire his 2000 music drama "Almost Famous." He also pays tribute to his teacher mother, Alice, and older sister, Cathy, who died of suicide when he was 10.
Crowe, 68, recently spoke to USA TODAY about the book, which he'll promote on a seven-city tour featuring Kate Hudson and Judd Apatow.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Cameron Crowe attends a special screening of "Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party" in Los Angeles in 2024.
Question: Looking back, who was an interview subject that you really forged a deep connection with?
Cameron Crowe: Pete Townshend of The Who was a real hero of mine, and I think still the best rock writer who wrote about The Who for Rolling Stone. It was my favorite story. He gave me the most deep tissue, "just you and me talking" interview that I could have ever imagined when I was 15.
What about an interview that didn't go well, but it taught you about the kind of writer you want to be?
It would be the Allman Brothers Band story and my relationship with Gregg Allman. I just did the audio version of the book and I broke down reading that part out loud. I had a real wound that was still there from this violent thing that happened between us when he took all the tapes back. He threatened me vaguely; he called me a cop that worked for the FBI. He was like, "Who do you think you are? How old are you? You're 16?" I just remember being scared, and this was a band I loved.
The cover of Cameron Crowe's new memoir "The Uncool."
I thought, "Oh, wow, so maybe I'm not just a kid in a candy store who can ask anybody about anything. Maybe I asked too many questions about his dead brother. I did something wrong, and I'm going to get fired from ever writing for Rolling Stone again." I had to stop reading the audiobook and gather myself. But as my mom would say, you never know good luck or bad, because he did give me my tapes back. It gave me the story that became "Almost Famous," and it taught me that the stakes were high. If you're given the opportunity to write about something important to you, strap in and do it right.
In the end, so much came from that difficult thing that happened with the Allman Brothers Band. I was able to see Gregg before he died and, in an odd way, have an unspoken conversation about what had happened between us. I thanked him for "Almost Famous," to which he said, "You're welcome."
So many folks who you write about in this book have recently died, including Ozzy Osbourne, Brian Wilson and Kris Kristofferson, among others. Is there one death that hit you the hardest?
Glenn Frey. I miss him constantly. I connected with him at a real crossroads as a young guy. He had a work ethic and a spirit about him where you just go, "Yeah, that's the person I'd love to be." The first time I interviewed him, he comes into this dressing room where they gathered to talk to me for my little underground paper in high school. He's from Detroit, so he explained that the Eagles were going to be like a finely made American car and that you can improve the V8 each new season. I remember leaving that dressing room going like, "I want to be a car, too!" He was 22 at the time but he felt like an adult; he had the answers.
What's the question you get most about "Almost Famous" now?
There was a point where I always used to get asked about "Jerry Maguire." People were like, "Show me the money! Show me the money!" And then there was one day when I stopped hearing about "Jerry Maguire" and all I started hearing about was "Almost Famous." It always warms my heart because I remember finishing the script and thinking, "This is too personal. This is embarrassing. No one will ever see it, but at least I get to write a love letter to music." And that became the thing that people hold closest of all the stuff that I've done. So I tell that to other writers, too: The thing that makes you go, "Oh, did I say too much?" Generally, you've said just enough, and you'll be grateful you wrote it.
Cameron Crowe won an Oscar in 2001 for best original screenplay for his semiautobiographical drama "Almost Famous."
You write very movingly about the loss of your sister, and obviously, the way we talk about mental health now is so much different than it was 40 or 50 years ago. Is there anything you've learned over time that's helped you better understand what she might've been going through?
I had a physical not too long ago, and I explained to the doctor the whole story of my sister. I was like, "She died in 1967. If it were 20 years later, would it have been different?" He was like, "Absolutely, there would have been so much more available to her." There wasn't much available to my parents in knowing how to deal with a child that was clearly having trouble in the world. And the world was not forgiving. Not enough.
Her solace was in music. In doing research for the book, I came across an old newspaper article about a book club that she was a part of. She'd come in with a book called "The Fairy Doll" and said it was the best book she'd ever read. It's about a person who's misunderstood, even in their own family, who finds truth and meaning in a sound. That made me feel like I know her. That was the most important thing about the book, to thank my sister for knowing how important a certain kind of music would be: the happy/sad. I'm forever grateful. This person that didn't make it was a real champion.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cameron Crowe remembers Pete Townshend, late sister in 'The Uncool'
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