Jessi Colter to Release Memoir An Outlaw and a Lady
For fans of outlaw country — and especially those who still feel the towering presence of Waylon Jennings — Jessi Colter’s memoir promises something deeply personal.
Titled An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith That Brought Me Home, the book offers an intimate look at life beside one of country music’s most iconic rebels — and at the woman who carved out her own legacy in the process.
A Front-Row Seat to the Outlaw Era
Written with noted biographer David Ritz, known for collaborations with artists like Willie Nelson and Ray Charles, the memoir traces Jessi’s journey from singing in church to standing at the heart of the 1970s outlaw movement.
That movement exploded into mainstream history with Wanted! The Outlaws, the groundbreaking project featuring Waylon, Willie, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi — and the first country album ever certified platinum.
While often surrounded by larger-than-life male figures, Jessi was never merely a supporting character. She scored a No. 1 hit with I’m Not Lisa and followed it with Top 10 success like “What Happened to Blue Eyes,” proving she stood firmly on her own artistic ground.
Love, Addiction, and Redemption
The memoir doesn’t shy away from the harder chapters.
Waylon’s well-documented struggle with cocaine addiction placed enormous strain on their marriage. Jessi writes candidly about the turbulence, the heartbreak, and the long road to sobriety — including the period when they retreated to Arizona, where Waylon ultimately got clean.
Faith plays a central role in the story. As the daughter of a Pentecostal evangelist, Jessi had once drifted from her spiritual roots. In later years, both she and Waylon rediscovered that foundation — a theme that shapes the emotional core of the book.
Waylon passed away in 2002 and was laid to rest in Arizona, the same place that became a sanctuary for healing in his final years.
More Than a Widow’s Story
At 73, Jessi Colter remains far more than “Waylon’s widow.” Alongside the memoir, she has continued making music — including a 2003 compilation titled An Outlaw…A Lady and work on new recordings.
An Outlaw and a Lady spans 304 pages and is published by Thomas Nelson. For longtime fans of outlaw country, it offers something rare: not mythology, not headlines — but memory.
An outlaw’s legend.
A lady’s voice.
One life lived in the fire of country music history.