Rowley, Scott - Stay Alive: The Life and Death of Stuart Adamson - The Authorised Biography

The official biography of former Big Country frontman chronicling his career highs and tragic death.

‘You want to go where no one you know will find you, as far away from home as you possibly can. And you know exactly where that is. 
You fly to Honolulu, Hawaii.
You walk out of the airport and book yourself into the first hotel you see.
You are a 10-minute drive from Pearl Harbour, three minutes away from the Pacific Ocean.
You are on an island, in the middle of an ocean, at the ends of the earth.

It is 14 December 2001, and you have just two days left to live.’

This is the story of Stuart Adamson, co-founder of not one but two seminal Scottish post-punk groups, The Skids and Big Country. But this is a book that is about much more than music.

Stay Alive is about alcoholism, abuse, family, fame, addiction, depression and working-class pride. And along the way there are stories of drug busts, debauchery, flag burning, fist-fights, prison escapes and riots, with a revolving cast of characters from The Clash to the Rolling Stones.

For the first time, both of Stuart Adamson’s wives, children and bandmates tell their side of the story: unflinching, funny and brutally honest.