JIMMY BARNES WINS AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD

JIMMY BARNES WINS AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD AND REVEALS DETAILS
OF SEQUEL TO WORKING CLASS BOY.

Last night at the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA’s) Jimmy Barnes revealed the title and cover of the second volume of his autobiography, Working Class Man, which will be published on 1 November 2017.

The Oz-rock icon also performed live in front of a crowd 500 of celebrities, media, publishers and booksellers and read them an incendiary passage from the upcoming book, which picks up his life story as he leaves Adelaide in the back of an old truck with a then unknown band called Cold Chisel.

A spellbinding and searingly honest reflection on music, success, fame and addiction, Working Class Man will reveal how Jimmy Barnes used the fuel of childhood trauma to ignite and propel Australia's greatest rock 'n' roll story.

Earlier in the evening his acclaimed first book, Working Class Boy won the prestigious ABIA Award for Biography of the Year. That first volume dealt with his violent and chaotic childhood and has broken sales records in Australia.  The paperback of Working Class Boy will publish on 1 August, in time for Father’s Day.

In a presentation to the audience Jimmy said, ‘In some ways my new book is probably more like the one people were expecting the first time around. There’ll be lot more rock’n’roll in it but there are still a few surprises in there too.  I’ve lived a pretty big life so it’s taking me two volumes to tell the story.’

‘We are incredibly proud of the immense success of Working Class Boy, but we always knew it was only half the story – Working Class Man lifts the lid on one of the most extraordinary rock’n’roll careers in Australian music history. Brace yourselves,’ said James Kellow, CEO of HarperCollins.

Jimmy Barnes is a Scottish-born rock singer–songwriter who grew up in Adelaide. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist of the legendary band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most successful and distinctive artists in Australian music history.  

A prolific songwriter and performer, Jimmy has been a storyteller for more than 40 years, sharing his life and passions with Australians of all ages at over ten thousand gigs throughout his adopted homeland. In the process he has amassed more #1 albums in Australia than the Beatles: four with Cold Chisel and eleven as a solo artist, including the iconic For the Working Class Man. Across his career Jimmy has sold over 12 million albums and he has been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame twice.

Jimmy lives in New South Wales, with Jane, his wife of 35 years, their children, grandchildren and two schnauzers.