Earl Slick Recalls David Bowie’s Sweet Addiction After Quitting Drugs: He’d Smash a “Whole Box of Them”

Although passing away in January 2016 at 69 years old, David Bowie continues to entertain fans thanks to his massive catalog that spanned over 50 years of music and featured more than 20 studio albums. Throughout his time in the spotlight, the legendary icon produced songs like “Modern Love”, “Ashes to Ashes”, and “Starman.” Not just releasing songs, but Bowie often changed an entire genre of music with the drop of a single album. While remembering his time with Bowie, Earl Slick recalled doing a great deal of drugs at the time and how Bowie had an addiction to a tasty treat other than illegal substances. 

Sharing stories of the past in his new book Guitar, Slick admitted he took some time to get into the studio due to drug use.”We’d sit in the control room and blow our brains out and not start working ’till hours later. Sometimes days later.” For Slick, his time with Bowie started when he debuted on the 1974 album David Live. With drugs always available at the time, it eventually became a thing of the past as they got older. “We were older, obviously, and there was no dope – none. By 2012, we had long-time sobriety. It wasn’t even a part of our lives anymore. But what we were doing then was hammering espresso.”

[RELATED: 3 Eternal Classic Rock Songs by David Bowie]

Earl Slick Admits David Bowie Would “Smash A Whole Box”

Besides espresso, Slick revealed what Bowie enjoyed most of all. “At a great bakery that’s been there forever called Bella Ferrara, a little, old-school place, I’d pick up [toasted almond] biscotti [biscuits] – which are insanely good – and bring them to the rehearsals.”

Seeming unable to control himself, Slick explained how Bowie often smashed “ a whole box of them.” “David would smash a whole box of them. He’d kill them along with his espresso, of course. When we got to The Next Day, on my first day I stopped at the bakery and picked up biscotti. David picked up pastries from Dean + DeLuca, and we had an espresso machine in the studio, and we just hammered the s**t out of all of it.”

At the time Slick and Bowie worked on the 2013 album The Next Day. And it appears the tasty food helped the process as the album soared to No. 2 on the Billboard 200. 

(Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)