Darius Rucker Releases Vulnerable And Honest Memoir, ‘Life’s Too Short’

Today, Tuesday, May 28, Darius Rucker unleashes some of his most personal stories to date told from the lens of the music that played a vital role in his journey in his first book, a memoir titled LIFE’S TOO SHORT: A Memoir by Darius Rucker.

Before diving into his days of partying on the road with his band, Hootie & the Blowfish, which is exposed on a raw and honest level in the first chapter, readers are greeted with the contents page. It’s important to note that this portion of the book reveals that each chapter is named after a song title. Some of these tunes were plucked from Rucker’s solo catalog, some stem from his days with the band and others are tracks by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, R.E.M., KISS, Prince and more, which he didn’t have a hand in writing or recording but still had a major impact on his life. 

Why Use Song Titles For The Chapters?

During an interview with Country Now and other outlets, Rucker explained that the decision to divide up the book in this way came as he and his co-writer, Alan Eisenstock found themselves drawing back to music time and time again while recounting his real-life stories. 

“We would write something and everything just seemed to come back to music. Every time I talked about something, it seemed to come back to music, every situation came back to music and he was like, ‘we should think about naming these chapters after songs.’ And that’s when I started thinking about the songs…Then it just started, I came up with a hundred songs I wanted to put, and we had to pick 23,” he explains. 

Being Completely Vulnerable And Honest

From there, they continued to carve out significant moments in the South Carolina native’s life to give fans a completely raw and unfiltered look into the experiences that made Rucker who he is today. He offers plenty of reflection as he recounts his childhood, losing both of his parents, gaining fame and fortune, becoming a father of his own, and all the other ups and downs that came along the way. 

“Getting to write that book and having to deal with not having a dad and growing up with my brother, all that stuff was very raw and I felt that the only way I could really tell the story is to be vulnerable and that’s the only way I think it would’ve worked for me. So I’m glad we did that. I’m glad we just told the truth.”

Rucker admits his late mother Carolyn wouldn’t necessarily have wanted him to tell the world about some of the stories he divulges throughout the book, but he didn’t let that stop him from being fully transparent with his readers because even the lowest of moments are still a part of his journey.

“I always said that if I ever wrote the book, I was going to be honest as I could be,” he shared. “There’s some stuff that’s over the top, but I just wanted to tell the story and I wanted people to understand the hard stuff and the good stuff. All this stuff made me who I am today and so when I was writing the book, I wanted it to be you to read it like we were sitting at a bar and I telling you my life story and so that’s how we wrote it.”

Rucker later added, “The partying and stuff, she wouldn’t have wanted that in there. The stuff with my brother, she wouldn’t have wanted that in there. She would’ve questioned that. But like I said before, I was going to be honest in vulnerable writing this, so I put it all in there.”

The “Wagon Wheel” singer displayed the same level of honesty in his latest album, Carolyn’s Boy, which was named after and dedicated to his mother. Released in the fall of 2023, this marked his first project in six years.

This heartfelt memoir captures the reality of the three-time Grammy Award–winner’s experiences in the music business, all leading up to his current rein as a country music sensation with fans all across the globe. 

“Life’s Too Short” arrives on shelves today, May 28 via Dey Street Books. 

Hitting The Road This Summer With Hootie & The Blowfish

In addition to his new book launch, Darius Rucker has officially returned from his time performing across the pond on a run of European tour dates and is now he’s gearing up to hit the road with his Hootie & the Blowfish bandmates on the Summer Camp with Trucks Tour.

Then the group will close out their year of touring with a headlining performance at Rucker’s own Riverfront Revival Music Festival. For its third year, the music event will return to the Diamond-selling artist’s hometown of Charleston, SC from October 11-12.

“I love my hometown and I wanted to do something that’s just ours and because there wasn’t really a two day music festival there like that and I just wanted to do something that was just ours. And so we started riverfront and it’s growing every year and it sells on every year and I’m just really proud to be a part of that,” he shared of the fall festival.

To see a complete list of Darius Rucker’s 2024 tour schedule click HERE.