FAMILY, FORGIVENESS & MY MUSICAL JOURNEY

THE ICON REFLECTS ON HIS LONG ROAD FROM HEARTBREAK TO HOPE—AND HOW LOVE HELPED HIM RECLAIM BOTH HIS SONGS AND HIS JOY

- JORDAN RUNTAGH

PRIDE & PAIN Though he's "immensely proud" of the records he made with his legendary band, Fogerty (in 1970; right, in February) admits the time was "confusing and hard to live through."

For Christmas 2016, John Fogerty received a special gift from his wife, Julie: his long-lost 1969 Rickenbacker guitar. The instrument had accompanied him during the glory years of Creedence Clearwater Revival, when he used it to play classics he’d written like “Proud Mary,” “Fortunate Son” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” on stages around the world—including a legendary appearance at Woodstock. Between 1969 and 1971 the group was one of the hottest acts in America, scoring an astonishing 14 Top 10 singles and five Top 10 albums in just two years. Their songs became the soundtrack to a turbulent era, echoing through war zones, protest rallies and jukeboxes across the country.

With his gritty howl, blues-soaked guitar licks and southern-steeped storytelling, Fogerty crafted an enduring sound that felt like it crawled straight out of a Louisiana bayou, despite his California roots. But when CCR splintered amid bitter legal and personal battles—including an estrangement from his bandmates, among them his brother Tom—Fogerty gave away the guitar, a symbol of his painful past. Seeing it under the Christmas tree more than 40 years later, he cried. “But they were happy tears,” Fogerty, 80, says. “So much has started to open up and flow since then.”