Life

By: Keith Richards, James Fox

Narrated by: Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley

Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited autobiography of Keith Richards, guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones.

With The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the songs that roused the world, and he lived the original rock and roll life. Now, at last, the man himself tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records, learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones's first fame and the notorious drug busts that led to his enduring image as an outlaw folk hero. Creating immortal riffs like the ones in "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Honky Tonk Women." His relationship with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the U.S., isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Marriage, family, solo albums and Xpensive Winos, and the road that goes on forever.

With his trademark disarming honesty, Keith Richard brings us the story of a life we have all longed to know more of, unfettered, fearless, and true.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2010 Keith Richards (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"[A] high-def, high-velocity portrait of the era when rock 'n' roll came of age, a raw report from deep inside the counterculture maelstrom of how that music swept like a tsunami over Britain and the United States....Mr. Richards has found a way to channel to the reader his own avidity, his own deep soul hunger for music and to make us feel the connections that bind one generation of musicians to another. Along the way he even manages to communicate something of that magic, electromagnetic experience of playing on stage with his mates, be it in a little club or a huge stadium." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"[A] slurry romp through the life of a man who knew every pleasure, denied himself nothing, and never paid the price." (David Remnick, The New Yorker)

"A vivid self-portrait and, of the Stones and their musical era, a grand group portrait....spellbinding storytelling." (Richard Corliss, Time)

I 💗Keith

An absolutely fascinating telling of an extraordinary life! I highly recommend it even if you are not a Rolling Stones fan

I can't believe he's alive

Not knowing much about the Stones, I bought this book (unabridged) for a very long road trip. I thought Johnny Depp would be great at the narration because of the whole Jack Sparrow thing. He only narrates a small portion of the book. The bulk is done by an actor named Joe Hurley and he blows Depp away! The end is read by Keith himself with some additional stories told by the different participants in his stories. Where the participants weren't available, their versions were read by whoever was doing the narrating at that moment. It doesn't really follow any particular system for who reads when. You just kind of adjust when they come on.
As I said, I can't believe he's alive. He has survived the ultimate rocknroller's story and is still going strong. No plans to stop. This thing is like 27 hours of audio and he forgot very little of his past Very little. It can get a little laborious but just as soon as that happens, he switches gears and it takes off again. My respect for all the Stones' talent, beginnings and devotion to music grew from this story. I also thoroughly enjoyed his frank discussion of any subject that arose via his many stories. Keith doesn't worry about being PC and it would be disappointing if he did.
Highly recommend. They don't make em like this anymore.

Must have

Amazing stories that are so honest and interesting. I have fallen in love with Keith Richards.

Keith's Eventful Life

Richards doesn't mince words or hold back when talking about the colourful and often controversial life he's lead. From affairs to drugs and brushes with the law, he tells it all in a frank sometimes funny style that is truly his own.
The choice of Johnny Depp as a narrator is absolutely inspired. Through most of the book, it's easy to believe it actually is Keith telling his story.
A fascinating auto-biography of an always interesting man.

the definitive Keith Richards book

a great listen. Johnny Depp and Keith Richards do a great reading. a great historical review of the rolling stones

Joe Hurley is unbearable

This starts out well. Keith is a surprisingly engaging writer and Depp’s American accent works fine. In chapter 5 when Joe Hurley takes o er the narration the enterprise collapses. His overreacting is simply intolerable. Think I’ll either return or quit.

Great book - The 2nd Narrator is annoying !

this was an awesome book. Shame Johnny Depp couldn't narrate the whole book as the other English narrator was really annoying. So Much so that i had to speed him up as he was really drawling it out . That aside , its a great book . Maybe better reading it though!

What a life!

This book was interesting and fun. I didn’t want to put it down. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to listen to a book this long, but it kept my attention until I finished it.

Ins and outs

To be put off by Johnny Depp's great intro or disappointed by Joe Hurley's almost perfect rendition of Keith Richard's voice is quite simply a linear reaction to a sea-full of Keith's unfiltered and lively experiences through the backdrop of the Rolling Stone's birth and growth.These guys lived and breathed that music which shaped our lives everyday during that period of time we were growing up.

If you were born between 1945 and 1955, then you will want to listen to this book so that you can come to terms with the tapestry of your life where all this music still exits and comes back as you hear Keith Richards explain where, when, and more importantly, WHY he created all those great songs.

Here's what you do : As you listen to the book,and begin the journey, every time a new song is mentioned, stop the book, go over to Youtube and listen to it done live by the Stones, then come back to the book. It will parallel your life and peg where you were at the time. Lots of fun and if music has always played an important part of your life, Keith's and Mick's songs will be inextricable adhered to the inside of your skull. It's in the total sum of who we are, right?

This book is a candid view into what propelled the greatest rock and roll band through the 60's, the 70's and some of the 80's and how the Rolling Stones are in part, responsible for the voice of rebellion, the cause for change and defined the freedom that we all yearned for or experienced during those tumultuous times. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's because I've been a blues guitarist since 1960, but I would not want to imagine a world without this music in it. I mean, who wants to live without rock and roll, man?
This is not a book, this is a rock and roll history lesson.

If every time you hear "Satisfaction" you get that tingle inside of you that puts you back to that night, that party, that girl or guy, that vacation, that point that was DEFINED by this song, you're gonna want to listen to this book.

What a Life

I am well into Chapter 5 of part 3 and I'm amazed. What a life. How has he lived long enough to tell this story? With his love of making music, he has overcome self-debasement and simply had to survive to tell all of this. There is candor and risk and success and error. His addictions and the tragedy of Gram Parson's are intertwined and troubling. He is accused of misogyny, but I don't hear him promising more than he gave and I'm not certain he treated anyone worse than himself. I'm glad he told it as it was instead of some tidy, self-reverential, cleaner version. Oh, and he could care less about redemption, he's been too busy living.

I was jarred and confused when the narration went from Depp to Hurley. Both are excellent, but I don't like the inconsistency of voice and if I could choose between the two, I'd choose Hurley's narration. Hurley has the growl and the grittyness and the laugh and the accent just right.

This is a book to be listened to, a tale told brilliantly in the large smoky living room of an old, musty faded-glory house, perhaps in France. Keith, thanks for letting me sit on the floor as you shared your life so far with all its wonders and warts.