From LSD-tainted childhood to global fame: The rise of a rock legend

A celebrated pop culture icon and one of the world’s most famous faces.

But given the turmoil of her childhood, she could just as easily have ended up on the streets.

From a young age, she was thrust into a chaotic, nomadic existence. Her parents’ separation marked the start of a turbulent childhood, with allegations that her father, a notorious Deadhead, exposed her to LSD at just three years old.

She was repeatedly abandoned by those meant to care for her, shuffled between the United States and New Zealand, and ultimately sent to a youth correctional facility at just 14 – but today, she is in a completely different place.

Some children with a chaotic and traumatic upbringing never make it out — but every so often, someone defies the odds and becomes a global icon. The woman we’re looking at today is one of those rare cases.

Met at a party held for Dizzy Gillespie

Born on July 9, 1964, in San Francisco, no one could have predicted the wild, extraordinary life that lay ahead.

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