Darius Rucker Announces Book Tour For New Memoir
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 04: Darius Rucker attends the ceremony honoring Darius Rucker with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 04, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Darius Rucker has announced a four-city book tour to celebrate the release of his new memoir, Life’s Too Short: A Memoir by Darius Rucker. The country star and lead singer of Hootie & The Blowfish will release his raw and heartfelt memoir on May 28.
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Rucker will make stops in New Jersey, New York City, and St. Louis and hold one virtual event. He wrote the book alongside Alan Eisenstock which will be released via Dey Street Books and is now available for pre-order.
“If I look back at my life and try to see into my past, everything seems blurry. But then I lean in and start to hear something. Melodies. Chords. Harmonies. Lyrics,” Rucker said of Life’s Too Short.
He continued, “This book is the story of my life as told through twenty-three songs that took me away, soaring, starting at ground level, living in a poor but happy home, never wanting for much more, enjoying what I had, even when times got tough, because I had my escape, my refuge, my music.”
Darius Rucker Book Tour 2024
Wednesday, May 22nd
Virtual – TalkShop Live
7 pm ET
Monday, May 27th
Bookends – Ridgewood, New Jersey
10 am ET
Tuesday, May 28th
Strand Bookstore – New York City
5:30 pm ET
Saturday, June 1st
St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch
2pm CT
Rucker’s memoir follows the release of his country album, Carolyn’s Boy, the first solo album he’s released in six years. The 14-track collection includes his No. 1 country radio single “Beers and Sunshine.”
It was recently announced that the hometown music festival, curated by Rucker, known as Riverfront Revival, will be headlined by the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Hootie & The Blowfish. The return of the festival marks its third year and will take place on October 11 and 12 in North Charleston.
GALLERY: Country Star Authors: Carrie, Miranda, and More
Country stars in recent years have expanded their world from music to books as many of them have become authors in various subjects. They have written about their own life stories, cooking, exercising, and more.
Today is National Book Lover’s Day. It is an unofficial holiday observed to encourage people to celebrate reading. And since many of your favorite shows may not be returning to the air in the fall due to the writers and actors strikes, it’s a great time to pick up a few new books!
For decades, country stars have written their stories, some in song lyrics, others in books. Loretta Lynn penned her life story Coal Miner’s Daughter in the 1970s, and the book was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie starring Sissy Spacek as Lynn. Other country legends like Johnny Cash, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and many more have put pen to paper to write books. Even more country legends have had books written about them, including Hank Williams and Merle Haggard.
Countless books have been written about country music, the Grand Ole Opry, and the stars that have made country music internationally known. There was even a book written in 2016 about country stars’ hairstyles over the years.
You can also find The Encyclopedia of Country Music (1998), with nearly 1,300 complete and alphabetical entries putting eight decades of country music at readers’ fingertips. It extends from the earliest ’20s recordings of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers to the ’90s chart-topping albums of LeAnn Rimes and Garth Brooks. And as of last year (2022), readers can now read the story of Black Country Music which is the first book on Black country music by a Black writer Francesca Royster. She uncovers the Black performers and fans, including herself, who are exploring the pleasures and possibilities of the genre.
As we celebrate books today, we gathered nine books by country superstars that they have written in the last couple of years.
