Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix has lived the rock star dream, but it came with a heavy price.
“Rock definitely glamourises the self-destructive lifestyle,” the frontman told Classic Rock in a recent chat when asked if rock music is wrong for making alcohol and drugs look cool. “I was part of it. I’ve lost friends and family members to it.”
He continued, “I guess that’s what made me want to change. All I’ll say is that I’m grateful that I put the bottle down back in 2012 for good. My life is forever changed. I was headed down a path to utter self-destruction.”
Shaddix celebrates 13 years of sobriety this month. Last September, he talked about his journey and how he managed it. The singer explained, “Once I learned how to get out of my way and continue to extinguish my stinking thinking, it affords me a life where I can be a father, be a friend, be a frontman for a band, be a husband, be somebody that I can look at in the mirror and go, ‘Alright, cool, we got this. We can do this.'”
“I got my good days and my bad days, and that’s just like everybody else. But I know that I got so much worth fighting for and so many good things to be grateful for. “I had people around me that picked me up and lifted me up in my time of need, and I accepted that care and that love and that help,” Jacoby added.
He further said, “I’ve been able to pay that forward to other men in my life. It’s an important message and an important story. The mental struggle can wreak havoc on you. [‘Leave a Light On’] is real in so many ways.”
Shaddix also shared with Kerrang! how a producer told him not to get sober, saying it went against rock ‘n’ roll. Shaddix disagreed by saying that many of his idols ruined their lives with addiction.
