Answer Addiction

Tag: rock stars & recovery

  • Ringo Starr And Joe Walsh Discuss Long-Term Recovery, Becoming Sober

    Ringo Starr And Joe Walsh Discuss Long-Term Recovery, Becoming Sober

    The rock star brothers-in-law got candid about addiction, recovery, and Tom Petty in a recent Rolling Stone interview.

    Ringo Starr and Joe Walsh are not only rock legends, but they have also both been in recovery for many years. Now they are both speaking about their journeys to sobriety, and how they helped each other get there.

    Eagles guitarist Walsh received a humanitarian award for his work in the recovery community at the 74th annual gala for Facing Addiction with NCADD last October. His friend and former Beatles drummer, Starr, presented him with the award.

    When Walsh went to rehab in 1995, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever play guitar again. Eventually, Starr brought him back to music and became a sober buddy. (Starr is also Walsh’s brother-in-law.)

    “I got sober because of a fellowship of men and women who were sober alcoholics,” Walsh told Rolling Stone. “After a couple years, I talked about [my sobriety] with other alcoholics and tried to help them. The only person who can get somebody else sober is somebody who’s been there and done that. I realized that I do more good showing people that there’s life after addiction.”

    When Starr got sober, he put together Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, which included Walsh on guitar. Starr, too, was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to play once he got sober.

    “I thought I don’t know how you do anything if you’re not drunk,” he said. “I couldn’t play sober, but I also couldn’t play as a drunk. So when I did end up in this rehab, it was like a light went on and said you’re a musician, you play good.”

    Rolling Stone asked Walsh about the opioid crisis, given that a lot of musicians his age have been taking painkillers to deal with the rigors of performing.

    “I don’t think America’s aware of how bad it is out there,” Walsh replied. “I’m talking about addiction across the board. Opiate addiction, it’s killing young kids by the hundreds—by the thousands.

    “The problem is if you hurt physically, you can get prescription pills for that,” Walsh continued. “The problem is that after that pain is gone, whatever substance you used very subtly convinces you that you can’t do anything without it and then you have to deal with that. And people don’t know that.”

    Starr then reflected on a fellow musician who succumbed to opioid abuse, Tom Petty, who died in 2017 at the age of 66.

    “The discussion is very difficult, because we did as much as anybody did and we’re still here and we’re sober… I don’t know why Tom’s gone and I’m here. It’s unanswerable.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rod Stewart's Daughter Says Singer Helped Her With Addiction

    Rod Stewart's Daughter Says Singer Helped Her With Addiction

    The music icon’s eldest daughter has been sober for two years. 

    Sarah Streeter, the eldest daughter of British rock legend Rod Stewart, told the UK press that the singer has helped her to overcome the toll taken by addiction to drugs and alcohol.

    Streeter, who was born to Stewart when the singer was 17 years old and given up for adoption, remained estranged from the singer until 2007. Stewart, whose son Sean has also struggled with substance use disorder, offered both emotional and financial support to Streeter and introduced her to his family.

    The 55-year-old Streeter said that she has not only been sober for two years, but also enjoys a closer relationship with her father, noting, “Now he’s just dad to me.”

    Streeter was born in 1963 to Stewart, who was at the time struggling to make a name in music, and art student Susannah Boffey. “I was too young to know what being a father was all about when Sarah came along,” said Stewart in a 2010 interview with the Mirror. “Adoption seemed like the best option.”

    After spending five years in foster care, Streeter was adopted by Gerald and Evelyn Thubron, and remained unaware of her father’s identity until she turned 18.

    They met—reluctantly, according to Streeter. Streeter was hesitant to forge a relationship with Stewart. She was also battling addictions to crack, cocaine and alcohol, with frequent bouts of sobriety and relapse.

    “Why I’m still here, I don’t know,” she said. “I carry a huge amount of guilt about what I put people through. The way it affected my family and loved ones was terrible. But I’ve chosen to talk about it because I think it’s important to be honest and to show that even if you hit rock bottom, you can get over it.”

    When Streeter’s adoptive mother passed away in 2007, she reached out again to Stewart, and found that he was receptive and understanding of her situation.

    “It’s not all new to him, of course,” said Streeter, referring to her half-brother Sean’s drug issues. “There’s no judgment from him at all. I don’t talk about it a lot now, but he always asks me if I’m all right.”

    Streeter revealed that she receives a monetary sum from Stewart each year—an amount that she insists was not requested. “It just happened,” she said. “It helps and it came at just the right time. It got us out of debt, which I’d run up because of the drugs.”

    More significantly, she now enjoys a genuine familial relationship with Stewart, who has introduced her to her eight half-siblings. Streeter said that she understands why he maintained distance from her as a child: “I can see he was in a difficult position while both my parents were still here. I think he didn’t want to upset them by encroaching on their territory after all these years.”

    The closeness they experience now had to be built over time. “He’s not just my dad, is he? He’s a big star, so of course, that makes it difficult,” said Streeter.

    But time has brought them together, and Streeter said that she now feels like a true part of Stewart’s family. For the singer, their relationship, though complex in its past, is simple in explanation: “She calls me dad and I call her my daughter,” he said. “We’re doing our best.”

    View the original article at thefix.com