Billy Idol is "California sober" and has "got over" being a drug addict.
Billy Idol has "got over" being a drug addict.
The 68-year-old singer claimed he made a choice to "not be a drug addict anymore" after he almost lost his leg in a motorcycle accident in 1990 and he feels "really lucky" that his substance abuse issues are behind him.
He told People magazine: "I really started to think I should try and go forward and not be a drug addict anymore and stuff like that.
"It took a long time, but gradually I did achieve some sort of discipline where I'm not really the same kind of guy I was in the '80s. I'm not the same drug addicted person.
"I mean, AA would say, 'You're always a drug addict.' And that may be true, but I don't do anything that much anymore. I got over it somehow. I was really lucky that I could get over it because a lot of people can't."
The 'White Wedding' singer considers himself "California sober" and is happy to indulge now and again without worrying it will set him down a slippery slope.
He said: "I can have a glass of wine every now and again. I don't have to do nothing. But at the same time, I'm not the drug addict that I was in the peak '70s, '80s...
"I'm, I suppose, 'California sober.' I just tell myself I can do what I want, but then I don't do it. If I tell myself I can't do anything, I want to do it. So I tell myself, 'You can do anything you like.' But I don't actually do it."
Billy finds it helpful to have sober friends around him.
He said: "A lot of my friends from the old days are sober. [My guitarist] Steve Stevens is sober and [guitarist/singer] Billy Morrison in my band is sober. There are people around me who are sober. That helps a lot."
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
I figure most of us thought The Doors was plenty of movie at 138 minutes....