During a recent interview with Zane Low on Apple Music 1, Billy Idol opened up about his drug addiction issues and his recovery, revealing that he’s not entirely sober even to this date. The rocker stressed that he gradually started working on his addiction after he almost lost his leg due to a motorcycle accident.
As many of you might know, Billy Idol has struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction for most of his life, just like many other rock stars. In his 2014 memoir named ‘Dancing With Myself,’ the musician narrated several instances of him passing out in nightclubs and waking up in hospitals due to his heroin and cocaine abuse.
Idol has had some horrible experiences fueled by alcohol and drug consumption. For instance, he had a motorcycle accident while under the influence in 1990. The rocker ran a stop sign at a Hollywood intersection and collided with a car while he wasn’t wearing a helmet. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he underwent seven hours of surgery to repair his fractured forearm. Furthermore, the musician’s right leg was at risk of amputation.
Fortunately, Billy Idol was saved, but he overdosed in 1994 outside a Los Angeles nightclub. The rocker collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he was treated. The incident was the final straw as he realized that his family wouldn’t forgive him if he died from a drug overdose.
In 2014, the musician revealed that he had not taken any hard drugs since 2003. However, he made it clear that he smokes marijuana regularly and drinks alcohol occasionally. During a recent interview, Billy Idol once again admitted that he’s not entirely sober but avoids hard drugs after his experiences in hospitals.
Idol also revealed his first epiphany regarding his substance abuse. Apparently, it was the time when he had a motorcycle accident under the influence of drugs. From then on, the rocker decided to work on his alcohol and drug addiction gradually.
Regarding his addiction, Idol said:
“I’m not a hundred percent. I stopped the hard stuff, and I don’t drink much, things like that. I mean, I always cared about myself physically and everything. So yeah, I did have to think about where I was going. I had to solve this problem about myself with the drug addiction, and that’s what was happening to me in a hospital bed.
I was kind of realizing I was going to face up to the thing that I hadn’t quite faced up that had been kind of ruling my life for about ten years. And then yeah, over the next ten years, I was able to gradually, I don’t know, develop some kind of discipline. I’d had the motorcycle accident because I was a drug addict, and I had to cure that. And it took a long time.”
It’s admirable to see Billy Idol genuinely opening up about his experience with substance addiction as well as the struggles that come with it. Fortunately, the musician managed to battle his addictions and has now focused on his physical and mental health.
