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12 Big Celebrity Memoirs for Fall
Lionel Richie, Priscilla Presley, Anthony Hopkins and Kenny Chesney are among the stars sharing their life stories
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Entertainment lovers are in for a treat this fall, with an unusually tall stack of celebrity memoirs out now or on the way. We highlight 12 of the most notable below.
Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music by Debbie Gibson
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Gibson became MTV-famous at age 16 after she released her first album, 1987’s Out of the Blue, which sold more than 5 million copies (remember “Only in My Dreams”?). In her new memoir, Gibson writes about the deep anxiety she felt during that sudden rise to fame: A few days after graduating from high school, she set off on a tour during which, she writes, “I was often breathing into a paper bag because of a panic attack.” Gibson also details the many years she spent on the stage, including as Eponine in Les Misérables on Broadway. For more, read AARP’s recent interview with Gibson. (September 9)
The Book of Sheen by Charlie Sheen
Sheen’s memoir landed recently as part of a multipronged Sheen-a-thon that included the release of a documentary, aka Charlie Sheen, and a slew of media coverage. The notorious bad-boy actor (Martin Sheen’s son and star of Platoon and Two and a Half Men, among others), 60, offers a no-holds-barred spillage of wild stories about losing his virginity in high school with a Las Vegas escort, his crack use and cocaine addiction, flying an airplane with 200 passengers while drunk and more. (September 9)
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Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, with Mary Jane Ross
Now 80, the actor, businesswoman and, of course, former spouse of the late Elvis Presley recounts her decision to part ways with the King after years of isolation at Graceland, where she arrived as a teenager and had little companionship besides Elvis’s omnipresent male entourage and the many women who’d line up at the gate to meet him. She describes the deep loneliness, troubled relationships and eclectic career that followed. We highlight 15 things we learned from the book in this story. (September 23)
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Truly by Lionel Richie
Richie fans will relish these reminiscences from the legendary singer, 76. The book is rich with details about his childhood struggles with ADHD, the rise of the Commodores (“We were more than a band,” he writes. “I believe God formed us as a brotherhood”), friendship with Michael Jackson, the inspiration for the song “Easy,” duetting with Diana Ross on the ballad “Endless Love” and much more. (September 30)
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Last Rites by Ozzy Osbourne
Osbourne had no regrets before he died in July at age 76: “If it ends tomorrow, I can’t complain,” the heavy metal king wrote in his posthumously published memoir, which includes stories of his health struggles (Parkinson’s disease, a neck injury) and reunion with Black Sabbath. Would he have changed anything about his life? “F--- no.” (October 7)
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Future Boy by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry
The 64-year-old actor and advocate for people with Parkinson’s disease (Fox was diagnosed at age 29) focuses on the heady period in the mid-’80s when he juggled two roles: Alex P. Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties and Marty McFly in the film Back to the Future. The book comes out just a few months after the 40th anniversary of the iconic movie’s release. (October 14)
Heart Life Music by Kenny Chesney, with Holly Gleason
Chesney, 57, describes his evolution from a high school football player in East Tennessee and college bluegrass band member to country music megastar (and 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee) with a wildly devoted following called No Shoes Nation. He told CBS Mornings that he views the book not so much as a memoir but as a collection of “very intimate postcards, if you will, of my life in this business, on the road, in the islands” (he loves spending time on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands). (November 4)
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We Did OK, Kid by Anthony Hopkins
The knighted and esteemed British actor, 87, dishes about growing up lonely in a small Welsh town with a critical father who belittled him. That discouraging period was followed by grim boarding schools whose staff deemed him slow and hopeless. Then he discovered Shakespeare, and everything changed. The Oscar winner (The Silence of the Lambs, The Father) also opens up about the alcohol use that nearly ended his life and interfered with his early career onstage. He has now been sober for almost 50 years. (November 4)
Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run by Paul McCartney
After the Beatles split, McCartney’s reinvention included creating a new band, Wings, in 1971 with his wife, Linda McCartney, and fellow musicians Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell. This is an oral history of the band’s ten-year run, including interviews (some historical, others new) with Ringo Starr, Sean Ono Lennon and the various musicians who made Wings soar (sorry). (November 4)
Bread of Angels by Patti Smith
The influential punk-rock artist, 78, won the 2010 National Book Award for nonfiction for her memoir Just Kids, centered on her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. That was followed by her more experimental 2015 book, M Train. Bread of Angels is broader and deeper, and includes her girlhood, rise as a poet and musician (she’s touring this fall to commemorate the 1975 release of her seminal album Horses), motherhood and beyond. (November 4)
Star of the Show: My Life on Stage by Dolly Parton
The final book in Parton’s photographic trilogy — following Songteller (lyrics) and Behind the Seams (fashion) — is a catalog of highlights from seven decades of dazzling performances by the beloved singer, 79. A fancy deluxe edition will also be released, with framable 8x10 photos and gilded edges among its extras. (November 11)
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100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke
The Tony, Emmy and Grammy award-winning entertainer, whose 100th birthday is in December, is as upbeat as he’s always been, including in his younger days headlining The Dick Van Dyke Show and kicking up his dancing shoes in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Now, with nearly a century under his belt, he offers advice on creating joy and staying healthy, weaving in stories from his extraordinary career. (November 18)
Other fall memoirs of note:
Heartbeats by tennis legend Bjorn Borg, 69 (September 23)
Still Bobbi by beauty entrepreneur Bobbi Brown, 68 (September 23)
Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age by Joy Harjo, 74, the three-time U.S. poet laureate (October 7)
Misunderstood by NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, 50, with Ray Beauchamp (October 7)
Cat on the Road to Findout by musician Yusuf/Cat Stevens, 77 (October 7)
Joyride by Susan Orlean, 69, author of The Orchid Thief, on her life as a writer (October 14)
Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures by Judd Apatow, 57, the comedian and producer-director (October 28)
The Uncool by the very cool filmmaker Cameron Crowe, 68, known for Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous (October 28)
Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood, 85, the Canadian author of The Handmaid’s Tale (November 4)
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