What’s the saying? Sex, drugs, and rock & roll? Wel,l leaving the first word out of the equation for a moment, there is a long association with being a professional musician and taking drugs. Many touring artists know that whenever you show up at a gig these days, there is often beer or alcohol waiting in the green room. Indeed, the life of a professional world-famous musician is often drowning in drugs. Hence the famous phrase. But lately, there are artists who have foregone the substances for a more substantive life. Here below, we wanted to highlight three of them. Indeed, these are three rock stars who have gone sober and have never looked back.
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K.Flay
The Grammy-nominated songwriter and performer K.Flay (born Kristine Flaherty) has been going through a lot lately, from losing the hearing in one of her ears to releasing her latest LP Mono in 2023 to going through a big life change with sobriety. Indeed, the “Blood In The Cut” artist recently posted on Twitter (X) that she has now been without alcohol for a handful of years.
“Today marks 5 years without alcohol,” K.Fly said in the post. “There were many days I wished for the immediate ‘relief’ of a drink, but instead I called a friend of walked five miles or played guitar or stretched or even just cracked a water and reminded myself that thoughts come and go.”
Kudos to K.Flay!
Duff McKagan
When you’re a member of the rock band Guns N’ Roses, you’ve seen a thing or two when it comes to drugs. Not only that, but GNR bassist Duff McKagan originates from Seattle, the home of grunge music where drugs and depression took the lives of many of his peers. Not only that, but in the 90s, he experienced some serious health issues, including a burst pancreas. It’s for those reasons and more that McKagan eventually decided to take the road into sobriety.
“My brain was drowning in drugs and alcohol,” he explained to Men’s Journal a few years ago. “These days, I’ve figured out how to get in the right mindset through exercise, eating well and meditation.”
Congrats to Duff!
Mike McCready
Speaking of Seattle and the grunge movement, Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready has long been at the center of the genre’s sound. He might be the most well-known of the sober rock stars on this list. But in the 90s, the six-string player found himself in rehab.
That’s actually where he formed his grunge supergroup band Mad Season, which went on to include big names like Layne Staley and Barrett Martin. Sadly, not every one of his band members survived their bouts with addiction as Staley died in the early 2000s. Thankfully, McCready survived that fate and now he remains a mainstay in Seattle, helping the next generation of artists thrive.
Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images
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