Deryck Whibley, the founder and lead singer of Canadian pop-punk band Sum 41, just unveiled the cover of his upcoming memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell.
Shared exclusively with People, the book will be published this October through Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
"Deryck's fans know what a talented lyricist he is, so it should come as no surprise that his book is charming, gritty and deeply personal," the book's editor, Rebecca Strobel, said in a statement.
Topics that will likely be discussed from Whibley's wide-ranging life include his four-year marriage to rock's punk princess, Avril Lavigne; his multiple near-death experiences, including an induced coma and subsequent sobriety; his other chronic health problems, including a scary hospitialization for COVID-19; and his current marriage and life with model Ariana Cooper and their two young children.
The book will come out just days after Sum 41 finishes the final American stops on their farewell tour, The Tour of the Setting Sum. (The name is a play on the band's very first tour, 2001's Tour of the Rising Sum.) Their final show will take place on January 30, 2025 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena-a big hometown bash to close out the 28-year career of the band.
Sum 41 Calling It Quits
The rock five-piece announced in May 2023 that they were going to put out one final album, and then break up the band.
"Being in Sum 41 since 1996 brought us some of the best moments in our lives. We are forever grateful to our fans both old and new, who have supported us in any way," the band said in a statement. "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."
The band's last album, Heaven X Hell, which will feature half punk and half heavy metal tunes, will be released this Friday, March 29.
"I'm a big believer in that the music tells you what to do, and it just told me this should be a double album," Whibley explained recently. "Once that album was finished, I'd realized, and I'd been thinking this for a while, that I felt like after all these years with my 1,000 percent focus on Sum 41 all day, every day, I felt like I don't have much more of that in me to continue past this record."
Sum 41 formed in 1996 when its original members--including current members Whibley and guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh--were still in high school. (The current lineup also includes bassist Jason "Cone" McCaslin, rhythm guitarist Tom Thacker, and drummer Frank Zummo.) The band derived its name from the first time they performed live together, on the 41st day of their summer vacation.
"I barely passed high school, because I intentionally didn't pay attention," Whibley recently told GQ. "I didn't want a plan B. I was so convinced I was going to be in music one way or another, whether I was super successful or just in a punk rock band that played small clubs."
By the time they released their first studio album, 2001's All Killer No Filler, their video for "Fat Lip" was all over MTV's TRL. In the following years, they were nominated for multiple Juno and MTV Awards, and were nominated for a Grammy in 2012.
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