Grammy Award–nominated artist Kem shares his life in this "breathtaking" (Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author) and revealing music memoir tracing his transformative journey from homelessness to gold-selling artist.
Known for his smooth, affecting crooning and dapper style, Kem's journey to the stage is nothing short of inspiring. In Share My Life, Kem goes back to the very beginning before his time to introduce his grandmother, who worked as a sharecropper in the South and had thirteen children. As Kem's family rises from the sharecropping and ultimately lands in Detroit, there is an unspoken mantra of "hard things are better left unsaid," which has devastating consequences down the line. And so, Kem grows up in the midst of an impenetrable silence. His mother is never without a beer in her hand, and his relationship with his father is oddly tense. Emotionally starved, Kem internalizes harmful feelings, eventually spiraling to drug use in his search for relief.
At nineteen, Kem is homeless, roaming the cold Detroit streets. In the overly bright Alcoholics Anonymous halls, Kem comes across men like himself verbalizing their feelings. The meetings helped him discover his own voice, using music as an outlet that has since touched millions.
In Share My Life, Kem chronicles his "revelatory, moving, and inspirational" (Lisa Cortés, Academy Award–nominated and Emmy Award–winning producer and director) journey of self-discovery, addiction recovery, faith, and redemption. The young boy who struggled with feelings of worthlessness becomes a man willing to put everything on the line for his dream. For all of his life, Kem has been driven by music and the emotions involved in bringing it to life. Today, the internationally renowned R&B singer/songwriter has to his credit: one platinum-selling album (Kem: Album II); two gold-selling albums (Kemistry; Intimacy); three Grammy nominations; five #1 hit singles ("Love Calls," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Why Would You Stay," "It's You," and "Nobody"), along with several sold-out national tours and international shows. He is the author of Share My Life.
David Ritz is a songwriter who has collaborated with stars like Janet Jackson and Marvin Gaye, as well as a renowned ghostwriter who has authored more than fifty books for some of the biggest stars in music: Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Lenny Kravitz, Joe Perry, Smokey Robinson, Don Rickles, and Willie Nelson, to name a few. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Essence, People, Art Connoisseur, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angeles with Roberta, his wife of nearly fifty years.
