The Serious Side of Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan has never shied away from talking about his rough life, but in the new interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Morgan really lets us have it. He even cries at one point while talking about his roots…

After his father's death, Morgan turned to dealing crack. As he tells it, he was a bust as a drug dealer, but the experience haunts him. "It still bothers me today," Morgan says, "but it's something that I did. It was survival…"

Morgan's turning point came when his best friend and drug dealing partner was murdered…

"He would say to me, 'Yo, Tracy, man, you should be doing comedy,' " Morgan says. "A week later, he was murdered. And that for me, that was like my Vietnam. I had my survival guilt when I started to achieve success. Why I made it out and some guys didn't."

Oh, boy. That is some serious business! You have to listen to the entire audio interview. This man is like an onion. So many layers! The more you peel the more you cry, the more you laugh (onions make me laugh), the more you feel (onions also make me feel).

Click after the jump to listen to the audio embed. And you can see Tracy Morgan perform live at the New York Comedy Festival on November 6.

As Jesus as my witness, I am going to buy and listen to the audio book version of his new autobiography I Am The New Black.