#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The critically acclaimed
singer-songwriter, producer, and six-time Grammy winner opens up about a
life shaped by music in this candid, heartfelt, and intimate story.
“One
of the great memoirs of our time . . . a gift from Brandi’s
soul.”—Glennon Doyle • “Brandi’s story is about perseverance, humor,
forgiveness, and manifestation. I absolutely loved it.”—Elton John • “Broken Horses led me right into Brandi’s heart, and my own.”—Brené Brown
Brandi
Carlile was born into a musically gifted, impoverished family on the
outskirts of Seattle and grew up in a constant state of change, moving
from house to house, trailer to trailer, fourteen times in as many
years. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as
beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult. At
the age of five, Brandi contracted bacterial meningitis, which almost
took her life, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years and
altering her journey into young adulthood.
As an openly gay
teenager, Brandi grappled with the tension between her sexuality and her
faith when her pastor publicly refused to baptize her on the day of the
ceremony. Shockingly, her small town rallied around Brandi in support
and set her on a path to salvation where the rest of the misfits and
rejects find it: through twisted, joyful, weird, and wonderful music.
In Broken Horses,
Brandi Carlile takes readers through the events of her life that shaped
her very raw art—from her start at a local singing competition where
she performed Elton John’s “Honky Cat” in a bedazzled white polyester
suit, to her first break opening for Dave Matthews Band, to many
sleepless tours over fifteen years and six studio albums, all while
raising two children with her wife, Catherine Shepherd. This hard-won
success led her to collaborations with personal heroes like Elton John,
Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Pearl Jam, Tanya Tucker, and Joni Mitchell,
as well as her peers in the supergroup The Highwomen, and ultimately to
the Grammy stage, where she converted millions of viewers into instant
fans.
Evocative and piercingly honest, Broken Horses is at
once an examination of faith through the eyes of a person rejected by
the church’s basic tenets and a meditation on the moments and lyrics
that have shaped the life of a creative mind, a brilliant artist, and a
genuine empath on a mission to give back.
