By Ryan Leeds
Many celebrity memoirs include some combination of the following: self-loathing, battles with substance abuse followed by stints in rehab, attempts at self-harm, bipolar disorder, multiple love affairs, unscrupulous business managers, career highs, career lows, and bankruptcy. To have them all in one book seems highly improbable—unless the book is by Ty Herndon and his friend and writing collaborator David Ritz.
Ritz opens the book with an unusual preface, confessing that he typically avoids inserting his own voice into a subject’s story. Here, however, he breaks that rule, insisting Herndon’s life is so extraordinary it demands introduction. The gesture feels redundant, as little remains unexamined in the pages that follow. This is, unmistakably, a tell-all memoir.
A country career built on silence
Herndon, a Mississippi native, began singing as a child in his Pentecostal church before joining the Tennessee River Boys (later to become Diamond Rio) in the 80s. After a stint on the hit TV talent contest Star Search, he rose in popularity and recorded the number one 1995 Billboard hit, “What Mattered Most.”
As a chart-topping artist, Herndon professionally felt on top of the world. Personally, he was in turmoil as he hid his sexuality, believing that coming out would end his career. His wife, Renee, accepted the fact that she would be married to a gay superstar even while he was in a long-term relationship with another closeted gay man. Neither relationship ended well, but Herndon continued, diving headfirst into an endless string of hookups and heartaches with men and women.
An arrest at a Texas park known for gay cruising in 1995 made tabloid headlines with one modification: Herndon had crystal methamphetamine on him, so his publicists were able to spin the story. He wasn’t homosexual. He had a drug problem and was quickly admitted to a rehabilitation clinic. Coming out would have to wait until 2014.
Herndon’s story is wilder than a frenetic bull ride at the rodeo. One wonders how someone so naive was able to not only survive but also reinvent himself in the cutthroat music industry. Yet at 63, he’s made peace with his past, found lasting love, and restored his deep faith. Given all he’s been through, it’s hard not to believe in divine miracles.
Fast facts: ‘What Mattered Most’
A chaotic, brutally honest memoir that proves survival sometimes looks like a series of bad decisions that somehow don’t kill you.
- What Mattered Most by Ty Herndon with David Ritz
- Publish date: March 31, 2026
- 272 pages
It wants better content.
Have another minute?
We spend a lot of time thinking about what’s worth your attention, and that goes for books as much as any performance or art exhibit. Welcome to 1MC’s curated shelf: five categories, thirty titles, refreshed every season, and always linked to independent booksellers through Bookshop.org.
Discover:
- The Green Room – Memoirs, biographies, scripts, and performance culture from the creators who make it.
- Conversation Starters – Society, identity, culture, and the changemakers we can’t stop thinking about.
- Liner Notes – Music biography, legacy, and culture. No skips.
- Fresh Ink – Fiction worth clearing your schedule for.
- When Art Speaks – The stories behind the images, objects, and creatives who left their mark.
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