Gary Stewart’s Complete Life Story to Finally Be Told

Whether you revere him as the King of the Honky Tonks, or just remember him for his iconic country hits like “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles),” anyone who knows their way around a vintage country music record collection will tell you that Gary Stewart has to be perhaps the most underrated musician in country music history.

His influence was incredible. His top songs and albums were unforgettable. But he was always on the outside looking in, falling right after a big rise, and perfected the role of being his own worst enemy. He was a perennial underdog, who nonetheless persevered to leave a legacy some performers with many more hits and much more money would kill to have.

Many have labored to tell the story Gary Stewart in a way that respects and does justice to the compelling twists and turns he experienced over the years, including Saving Country Music, which featured him on Episode 15 of the Country History X podcast. But nobody has gone as deep, has gotten so intimate, has so fearlessly mined for the true essence of Gary Stewart as biographer Jimmy McDonough has.

Now after 40 years of obsessing over Stewart, speaking to him personally many times, visiting him in his hideaway doublewide in Florida, and just generally hanging out with the Honky Tonk King to get to the heart of what made Gary Stewart tick, Jimmy McDonough is finally ready to tell Gary’s unabridged story.

Along with his interviews with Stewart himself, McDonough also spoke to his wife, best friend, and life partner Mary Lou, numerous family members, multiple band members, producers, associates, drug dealers, along with fellow country stars who knew him well such as Tanya Tucker, Willie Nelson, Dickey Betts, Charley Pride, and songwriter Dean Dillon. Amassing 544 pages on Stewart, the book also includes many never seen before photos, including the one that adorns the cover taken by Gary’s brother Grandal.

For those who’ve obsessed over Gary Stewart over the years, this will be your encyclopedia, but one that’s not a dry recitation of facts. Gary Stewart was known for living his life like “the plane could crash tomorrow,” and that’s the same energy and attitude Jimmy McDonough brought to this work. After writing landmark biographies for Neil Young, Tammy Wynette, and others, he swears this is his final one.

Rumored for years, we now have the details and release date for Gary Stewart: I Am From The Honky Tonks. Unfortunately though, it’s not right around the corner. The book won’t be released to the wide public in hardback, eBook, and Audiobook until March of 2026. However, publisher Wolf + Salmon is making a limited “Cadillac” Collector’s Edition available on November 10th, 2025 that will be limited to 250 signed and numbered copies.

With so many of the greats of country music, their legacies don’t diminish over time, they only grow stronger. Gary Stewart is one of those beneficiaries, and this new book will hopefully help cement that legacy even more into the future.