Life's Too Short: A Memoir

by Darius Rucker Narrated by Darius Rucker

Overview

""Darius has always been one of my favorite people to sing with and to call a friend in this industry and yet even knowing him well for as long as I have, there are so many incredible stories in*Life's Too Short*that I enjoyed learning for the first time.”-Sheryl Crow

A raw, heartfelt memoir from Darius Rucker, the Grammy Award- winning country music sensation and multiplatinum-selling lead singer of Hootie & The Blowfish

In 1986 Darius Rucker cofounded Hootie & The Blowfish at the University of South Carolina. What began as a party band playing frat houses and dive bars quickly became a global pop rock phenomenon through their multiplatinum-selling debut album, cracked rear view, which featured era-defining hit songs like “Only Wanna Be with You,” “Let Her Cry,” and “Hold My Hand.” Later, Darius would chart a pioneering path as a solo country music artist, with classic anthems like “Wagon Wheel” and “Alright.”

Nearly forty years after the band's formation, Darius tells his remarkable story through the lens of the songs that shaped him-from Al Green, Stevie Wonder, and KISS to Lou Reed, Billy Joel, Nanci Griffith, and so many more.

Set against the soundtrack of his life, Darius recounts his childhood as the son of a single mother in Charleston, South Carolina. He traces the unlikely ascent of his band and shares wild tales of life on the road-but he also faces his missteps, defeats, and demons. As moving as it is entertaining, Life's Too Short is a timeless book about a man and his music.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

There’s a lot more to the Hootie & the Blowfish story than the massive success that made them both Grammy winners and a cultural punchline. There’s also a lot more to Rucker, who became a solo country music star after the band parted ways in 2008, racking up hit records and albums and becoming the third Black artist in history to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. As the memoir shows, his chill demeanor and infectious laugh often mask a complex inner life.” — Washington Post

“[Life's Too Short] chronicles not only his Hootie highs but his successful shift to country music, also digs into family strife.” — USA Today

“[Life's Too Short] covers all aspects of the musician’s life, from his humble beginnings singing Al Green for his mother’s friends to the hard-partying peak of his Hootie & the Blowfish fame. It covers friendships with stars like Woody Harrelson and Tiger Woods, and also gives intimate insight into his fears and eventual accomplishments breaking into country music as a Black artist...Rucker’s book is a humble ode to the people and places that made him who he is — and the fate that brought together a little band called Hootie & the Blowfish.” — People

“Rucker looks back at the journey, in a deeply honest memoir touching on everything from growing up in a home guided by a devoted, hard-working single mother, the story behind Hootie & the Blowfish, the highs and lows of a rock star from drug and alcohol abuse to meeting and becoming friends with people like Tiger Woods, to much more...Rucker opens up in the book, as well, about some painful, personal struggles.” — Forbes

“Darius Rucker has done a whole lot of living, and his new memoir is proof...lays bare the roses and thorns on his road to stardom.”  — Entertainment Weekly

“Darius has always been one of my favorite people to sing with and to call a friend in this industry. We both started out around the same time and are lucky enough to still be making music today, and yet even knowing him well for as long as I have, there are so many incredible stories in Life's Too Short that I enjoyed learning for the first time.” — Sheryl Crow 

“Darius Rucker has been a trailblazer in music for decades and now we know why. Life’s Too Short is a raw, rare, and at times uncomfortable look at how Carolyn’s boy from Charleston rose to the top. Warts and all, this is an honest look at the soul of the man behind the music.” — Craig Melvin

Kirkus Reviews

2024-04-05
The rock and country star examines his career through “the songs that formed me.”

“We’re not just the biggest band in America, we are omni-fucking-present.” So writes Rucker of his band Hootie & the Blowfish, which, back in the 1990s, was inescapable. The band came out of the Chapel Hill music scene, which is so well documented in Tom Maxwell’s A Really Strange and Wonderful Time, and while many acts were better, somehow they rode a zeitgeist wave to stardom, reaching “the top of the rock-pop music mountain.” The band, writes Rucker, indulged in the customary rock ’n’ roll vices: “Hootie & The Blowfish reigned supreme in two not altogether unrelated areas: selling records and doing drugs.” As always happens in these rock memoirs, the author chronicles how drugs threatened to take down the whole enterprise, though there were other tensions of personality—and, of course, it’s success itself that turned out to be the devil. Rucker’s chapters are sometimes loosely, sometimes more coherently tied to songs that in some way contributed to his musical formation and shaped his songwriting. Naturally, R.E.M. figures with the jittery ballad “So. Central Rain,” but, given the author’s generally unchallenging approach to pop, so do more unlikely picks like the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels” and Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.” There’s not much wild side at play in rounds of golf with Willie Nelson and hanging with Frank Sinatra, but there are some instructive moments in what it means to be a pop star, notably Chrissie Hynde’s gentle upbraiding about setting aside artistic ego to take care of the fans. The rise-and-fall business is without a single wrinkle of surprise, but at least Rucker keeps his eye on the music throughout, even if Barry Manilow’s is among it.

Unexceptional, as rock memoirs go, but something for the fans.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159412478
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/28/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	334,809

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