STILL ALRIGHT

Kenny Loggins enters the danger zone with his no-holds-barred memoir.

When he was just 17, Kenny Loggins drew upon his brother’s impending fatherhood and his own fears of leaving childhood behind to write what became two of his most enduring hits: “Danny’s Song” and “House at Pooh Corner.” After almost 60 years wve ye>rs >s p>rt Ŗv ŖggĶOEs E essĶOE>®, tije r>ŇŇyĵwĶOEOEĶOEg sĶOEger of the hits “Footloose,” “I’m Alright” (from Caddyshack) and “Danger Zone” (from Top Gun and heard also in Top Gun: Maverick) continues to share his life’s story. This time, the “King of Soundtracks” is telling all in the new memoir Still Alright (June 14, Hachette Books, $30), written with Jason Turbow.

“Mary Karr [the author of The Liars’ Club] wrote a great book on writing autobiographically, The Art of Memoir. She talks about being as honest as possible, and that’s what we strove for,” says Loggins, who interviewed people in his life and career to get their perspective on how things happened. And though he might feel once burned, twice shy since his open-hearted approach to songwriting and life has sometimes been belittled, he’s moving forward anyway. “I said something about [worrying over] revealing myself,” Loggins, 74, says. “Lisa, my girlfriend of four years now, said, ‘Honey, you did that a long time ago.’”

What books did you read to prepare to write your own? I read my friend Richard Marx’s book [Stories to Tell]. I listened to [the Who’s] Roger Daltrey’s book [Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite]. Peter Frampton’s book [Do You Feel Like I Do?] has some cool pages about the early days, as does Graham Nash’s [Wild Tales]. Oh, and I was listening to Elton John’s book [Me] this morning. It’s very funny.

Still Alright talks honestly about every stage of your life, from your addiction to pills to two divorces. Did you ever hesitate? That’s a good question, because that was a constant over my head: How far do I go with this? My relationship with both of my ex-wives is positive, is gŖŖ`. ƂOE` tije łĶ`s Qije ij>s wve ĶOE >ŃŃR LeOEewt vrŖŇ tij>t. `Ķ`OE½t w>OEt tŖ poison the well.

You’ve successfully tackled so many genres, from folk-rock and pop to R&B and even kids’ songs. And every step of the way you were advised not to take those chances. For me, my career, my music has been, “Go where the fun is.” That will be on my tombstone. It’s worked.

What did his Loggins & Messina fans think about his move toward rock? Go to Parade.com/kenny for the full interview.