Congratulations and a tip of the hat to our good friend Joe Hurley for winning the Audie, widely considered to be the Academy Award among audio books awards!

Hurley, who narrated the critically acclaimed Keith Richards’ autobiography Life with Richards and Johnny Depp, accepted the prestigious Best Audio Book of the Year Award at the 2011 Audie Awards Ceremony in New York.

According to NJStage.com, Hurley took the stage to accept the award and through a surge of emotions, told the story about seeing the Rolling Stones in London, his first rock concert, and now turning to this great privilege in his life which he simply described as a "helluva joy ride."

"When I heard they needed me on this project, there were no questions asked," said Hurley. "I was sound checking Singing Back Home in Paris when I got the call.

“I went straight to the airport, flew for hours, lost my luggage and had no sleep, but we recorded it on time and the result is this amazing memoir to music icon Keith Richards."

For anyone who has heard Hurley sing or speak, the choice to have him voice this book is obvious. Every crack in his smoky and deep register hints at the decadence and seen-it-all swagger that Richards embodies.

As a singer, songwriter, actor, playwright and voice-over artist, Hurley is a creative dynamo who also leads Joe Hurley and the Gents and Joe Hurley and Rogue's March.

He is the founder and curator of the Allstar Irish Rock Revue, a musical/literary homage to the great Irish songbook celebrated annually around St. Patrick's Day.

In a weird way, it doesn’t seem like the Big Green Holiday unless I hear Hurley sing Johnny Cash’s outlaw anthem “I Walk the Line” at the annual revue.

Raised in London to Irish parents, Hurley now lives in New York City. Check out Joe Hurley by visiting www.roguesmarch.com.