As he tells Radio.com, "I was basically the silent guy in the band," which wasn't a problem, as the group's frontman Phillip H. Anselmo, drummer Vinnie Paul and late guitarist Dimebag Darrell were never at a loss for words. "I was all about getting up on stage and jamming."

Brown puts the blame of Darrell's death at least partially on the media. As he says in the prologue to Official Truth: 101 Proof, "In my opinion the music press had been pushing all the wrong buttons with fans by constantly re-igniting the debate as to who was responsible for the breakup of Pantera� if the press had shut their f*****' mouths and let us � the band � resolve our differences, I believe that Darrell would still be alive today."

So, why did a guy who didn't like to talk to the media decide to publish his memoirs? "It took about six months of me saying 'No,' and then I started really thinking about it. I thought, maybe it is time to tell this story now, while it's still fresh in my mind. I wanted this to be not so much a 'heavy metal book,' but just a story. It's my story, it is true. From my perspective. I was reading Keith Richards' book, Life, at the time, which I think is brilliant. Just the way it was written, it must have taken him years to put that thing together. I would have liked to have had his advance, but I didn't do this for the money, either. It's about my life. It's about my life with Pantera. Is it the official Pantera biography? By no means. This is just where I was sitting at the time."

Here's a few things we learned about Rex from the book: Rex believes in God, but not organized religion: "I know the Ten Commandments � what do to and what not to � but I also believe that something higher and much greater than me has helped me get through the more traumatic side of life in rock and roll."

The song that changed his life? ZZ Top's "Tush": "When I heard this song, it immediately altered my outlook on everything. I held onto that feeling for dear life. ZZ Top was a new type of boogie, a new stomp, and I really dug it.