Desmond Child, Grammy® winning and Emmy nominated songwriter / producer, who has contributed to some of the biggest global hits that helped ignite the success of music icons KISS, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry, and countless others, will release his first-ever memoir, “LIVIN' ON A PRAYER: BIG SONGS BIG LIFE” on September 19, 2023, via Radius Book Group. In this story of anguish and personal struggle, Child reveals how he climbed his way to the top and beyond amid extraordinary circumstances, and shares his very intimate and unbelievable journey that shaped him into an artist of international renown. With a foreword by Paul Stanley, and in collaboration with legendary music biographer David Ritz, “LIVIN' ON A PRAYER: BIG SONGS BIG LIFE” is available now.
For over half a century, Child has collaborated with the world’s most celebrated artists creating timeless classics, such as Bon Jovi’s “Livin' On A Prayer” and “You Give Love A Bad Name,” as well as Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “The Cup Of Life,” amongst his vast catalog. But in “LIVIN' ON A PRAYER: BIG SONGS BIG LIFE,” Child himself takes center stage to share his transformational story of a misfit outsider to cultural pacesetter.
Says Child: “The process of writing the book has been more than cathartic. It has been revelatory. Not until I went through the deep and sometimes painful experience of writing this book did I realize the great adventure I’d been living… an adventure I’m thrilled to share with the world.”
In the upcoming title, Child recounts his unconventional upbringing as his colorful family fled revolutionary Cuba for Florida in the 1960s and fell into poverty. He details his shocking discovery at age 18 that the man he called “dad” was not his biological father after all, and he courageously bares his soul about navigating the trials of being a Latino gay man in the macho world of Rock ‘n' Roll. His is a story of willing himself to succeed and overcoming impossible odds to establish himself as one of the most influential composers and lyricists of all time.