Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley is embarking on a new creative venture, announcing his first-ever memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven And Hell.
Named after the band’s 2007 song Walking Disaster (from the album Underclass Hero) and their upcoming double album, Heaven :x: Hell (which also acts as their final release), the primary songwriter and founder of Sum 41 is set to showcase different sides of his personality.
Walking Disaster has been described as a “candid memoir of punk rock, fame, and endurance”, per an official synopsis via book publishers Simon & Schuster.
The book will follow Whibley from his beginnings as a punk kid to fronting an uber-successful pop-punk band, with the singer delving into his childhood raised by a single mother, starting fights in school, and forming a band with like-minded friends that followed a DIY ethos.
The description continues, “Walking Disaster is Deryck’s story, but it is also the untold story of Sum 41. Deryck takes you backstage, into the recording booth, and through the highest highs and lowest lows of the band whose story is inextricably woven with his own.”
Walking Disaster will find Whibley getting honest about his experiences with fame, fortune, and the music industry, followed by paparazzi and health issues that recently landed him in the hospital.
Whibley’s memoir will be released via Gallery Books on Tuesday, 8 October.
Next Friday (29 March), Sum 41 will release their final album and will subsequently disband after 27 years, but not before going on a final world tour.
“Being in Sum 41 since 1996 brought us some of the best moments of our lives,” the band wrote in a shock social media post last year. “We are forever grateful to our fans, both old and new, who have supported us in every way. It is hard to articulate the love and respect we have for all of you, and we wanted you to hear this from us first.”
They continued, “Sum 41 will be disbanding. We will still be finishing all of our current upcoming tour dates this year, and we’re looking forward to releasing our final album, Heaven :x: Hell, along with a final worldwide headlining tour to celebrate. Details will be announced as soon as we have them.
“For now, we look forward to seeing all of you skumfuks on the road and are excited for what the future will bring for each of us. Thank you for the last 27 years of Sum 41.”
You can pre-order/pre-save Heaven :x: Hell here.
