Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Glow : The Autobiography of Rick James - Rick James

Glow

The Autobiography of Rick James

By: Rick James, David Ritz (As told to)

Paperback | 29 December 2015

At a Glance

Paperback


$39.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $9.94 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 10 business days

Best known for his 1980s hit songs “Super Freak,” “Give it to Me Baby,” and “Mary Jane,” the late singer and funk music pioneer Rick James collaborated with acclaimed music biographer David Ritz in this posthumously published, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock star’s life and soul.

He was the nephew of Temptations singer Melvin Franklin; a boy who watched and listened, mesmerized from underneath cocktail tables at the shows of Etta James and Miles Davis. He was a vagrant hippie who wandered to Toronto, where he ended up playing with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, and he became a household name in the 1980s with his hit song “Super Freak.” Later in life, he was a bad boy who got caught up in drug smuggling and ended up in prison. But since his passing in August 2004, Rick James has remained a legendary icon whose name is nearly synonymous with funk music—and who popularized the genre, creating a lasting influence on pop artists from Prince to Jay-Z to Snoop Dogg, among countless others.

In Glow, Rick James and acclaimed music biographer David Ritz collaborated to write a no-holds-barred memoir about the boy and the man who became a music superstar in America’s disco age. It tells of James’s upbringing and how his mother introduced him to musical geniuses of the time. And it reveals details on many universally revered artists, from Marvin Gaye and Prince to Nash, Teena Marie, and Berry Gordy. James himself said, “My journey has taken me through hell and back. It’s all in my music—the parties, the pain, the oversized ego, the insane obsessions.” But despite his bad boy behavior, James was a tremendous talent and a unique, unforgettable human being. His “glow” was an overriding quality that one of his mentors saw in him—and one that will stay with this legendary figure who left an indelible mark on American popular music.

About the Author

Rick James was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer, best known for popularizing funk music in the late 1970s and early 1980s thanks to million-selling hits.
Industry Reviews
Unflinching . . . . manages to temporarily separate the story of the monster from the story of Rick James, the way Marvel Comics occasionally pulls apart Bruce Banner and the Hulk.
Alex Pappademas, Grantland

"As close as we'll ever get to the real thing."
Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News

More in Biographies

Bread of Angels - Patti Smith

RRP $34.99

$29.95

14%
OFF
The Mushroom Tapes : Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial - Helen Garner
Star of the Show : My Life on Stage - Dolly Parton

RRP $85.00

$59.95

29%
OFF
The Uncool - Cameron Crowe

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Taylor Swift : Unofficial Search and Find Biographies - Gus Morais
Pump Up the Jam - Amanda Keller

$34.99

100 Diaries That Chronicled World Events - Colin Salter

RRP $44.99

$35.75

21%
OFF
Inside the Mind of the Backpacker Killer : Ivan Milat - Tanya Farber
On My Watch : Leading NATO in a Time of War - Jens Stoltenberg

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Mamba & Mambacita Forever - Vanessa Bryant

RRP $70.00

$49.75

29%
OFF
I Wrote This For Attention - Lukas Gage

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Insomnia - Robbie Robertson

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
What Have I Done? : My Autobiography - Ben Elton

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Vagabond - Tim Curry

Hardcover

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
Book of Lives : A Memoir of Sorts - Margaret Atwood

RRP $69.99

$49.95

29%
OFF
We Did Ok, Kid : A Memoir - Anthony Hopkins

RRP $55.00

$42.25

23%
OFF
Just Go : Turning fear into a superpower - Saya Sakakibara

RRP $34.99

$26.95

23%
OFF
It's a Scorcher! : Tales of the Australian summer - William McInnes

RRP $34.99

$27.95

20%
OFF
The Voice Inside : The Illustrated Edition - John Farnham

RRP $65.00

$48.99

25%
OFF