The music world was surprised last week with the news that rock/alternative-country musician Ryan Adams will be dissolving his band The Cardinals and quitting music indefinitely.

Adams says that while he is "happy for the first time in his life," his celebrity lifestyle and seemingly endless touring and recording schedule have taken a devastating toll, both mentally and physically. He wrote in his blog, "I lost more than anyone will ever know (someone I loved, my sense of dignity, a never-ending losing battle with stage fright, and now my hearing and balance due to an inner ear issue)." Adams even went so far as to say the celebrity lifestyle that he led and was expected to lead was "soul destroying."

Despite this impending retirement, Adams has assured his fans that his current tour will continue as planned and that his final performance will be the March 20 show in Atlanta, Ga. He wrote, "I really look forward to these upcoming shows, and although I have been a faithless sort in the past, I truly believe there is no beginning or ending, really, and that the moment is the eternal and the great teacher. And those moments before, playing music with The Cardinals - those moments are in me always. No one can take that away."

A future void of music may seem like a bleak existence for a musician, but not so for Adams. April 1 will see the release of his first book, "Infinity Blues," a collection of short stories and poems, and Adams has revealed that there are at two more books on the way in the future. Furthermore, with reports of hundreds of unreleased songs, the musician could potentially release album after album for years to come, without ever having to enter the studio.

So is this the definite end of Adams' music career? No one can really say, not even Adams himself: "Maybe we will play again sometime, and maybe I will work my way back into some kind of music situation, but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in."