Bless Me Father

‘Blazingly honest ... a confessional book — at times almost recklessly candid — but it’s also a profoundly sad family memoir that grapples with Rowland’s lifelong desire for approval from his Irish parents, especially his laceratingly critical father, a man who would frequently take his belt to his son’s legs.’

Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times

‘The first half is so out there, if you didn’t know it was about a young man who went on to form a band and enjoy several Top 20 hits and a global No 1 with 'Come On Eileen' you’d think, wow, these are the formative years of a future jailbird. Or someone now dead ... It's unflinching, insightful and sometimes hilarious.’

Michael Odell, The Times

‘A picaresque story, and Rowland tells it with an impressive lack of self-pity... powerful and oddly persuasive. Even as he seems to despair of himself, you wind up rooting for Rowland. '

Alexis Petridis, the Guardian

'brutally candid'

4 x stars, Mark Cooper, Mojo

'remarkably candid, gripping ... the book is confessional, contrite to an extraordinary degree, and packed with granular detail'

Shaun Curran, The i Paper

'Rowland has gone through the mill and produced a powerful account of his life… Kevin has raised the game for autobiographies by musicians at a time when they are in danger of becoming a predictable late career exercise ... a thrilling tale … He deserves to savour his terrific career and this marvellous book about a life less ordinary.'

Eamon Sweeney, Irish Times