The Prodigal Comes Home

February 26, 2007
In May 1994, just a week after receiving four of the Christian music industry's coveted Dove Awards, English's double life came crashing down around him, as he confessed to an extramarital affair with a fellow singer who was pregnant with his child. But being fodder for national headlines was hardly the nadir of the North Carolina musician's fall from grace. After separating from the wife he had married barely out of his teens, he had a string of lovers and embraced the Nashville party scene, eventually becoming dangerously addicted to prescription painkillers like OxyContin. His memoir spares none of the gruesome details of how his addiction damaged or severed important relationships and wrecked his health. After a stint in rehab, English got clean, only to relapse a couple more times before rediscovering the God he'd been singing about all those years. He likens himself to the biblical prodigal son, "who had to get all the way to the absolute bottom before his desperation drove him home." English's loyal fans will enjoy this revealing kiss-and-tell, which often reads like a who's who of gospel music and ends with an encouraging if predictable message about God's forgiveness.