We have often witnessed how addiction does not consider age or gender. Rock stardom or being a celebrity do not get you special treatment. Many world famous musicians have been able to achieve recovery, and when chatting to them, they always comment about how much better life is without the drink or drug. The coolest rock stars that are sober are listed here!
Elton John
Is there a cooler singer/songwriter out there? The author of “Tiny Dancer” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” used to party more than most of us can ever conceive. This dude probably blew more cocaine than, well, you get the idea. Cocaine was his DOC (drug of choice). He has been clean for years, yet he is still a driving force in the sober movement.
Eric Clapton
Who would have ever guessed that the person who popularized the legendary rock song “Cocaine” would have had a drug abuse issue? He claims that heroin and alcohol—rather than cocaine—were the main causes of his downfall. Since being clean in 1987, this music legend has even opened up several halfway houses.
Ringo Star
In the 1980s, the venerable drummer from The Beatles turned to alcoholism. The musician called it quits after taking the Yellow Submarine through rivers of booze and finding it difficult to remember many details from the 1970s.
Anthony Kiedis
He wrote a horrific autobiography about his years spent struggling with heroin addiction, which I’m sure many of us have read. Throughout his more than ten years of heroin addiction, the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman went in and out of treatment facilities. He is still a rock god even though he is sober and clean.
James Hetfield
Can the legendary front man of Metallica be left off of any list of rock musicians? Hetfield, who battled addiction and severe alcoholism, found sobriety in 2001 and has maintained it ever since.
Tom Waits
It has been more than 20 years since this roaring, snarling savage used drugs or alcohol to change his mind or body. His wife helped him become sober. If you haven’t watched “Seven Psychopaths” or “Wrist Cutters a Love Story,” you should, since his acting career is almost as amazing as his musical one.
Ozzy Osborne
If you believe chewing the head off a bat is normal or acceptable behavior, you must be pretty inebriated or high. The Black Sabbath frontman has been abusing drugs for more than 40 years, but he is now sober and, miraculously, alive.
Trent Reznor
Throughout a nearly three-decade career, his heroin addiction has been well reported. For a while now, NIN’s creative energy has been unhindered, and it has contributed to some of the finest movie soundtracks ever made.
Nikki Sixx
The band Motley Crue, in which Nikki Sixx played bass, may be the finest example of 1980s excess. Media stories about the band’s hedonistic lifestyle and drug-fueled excess regularly overshadow their artistic production. The luxurious lifestyles of all four band members were well known, but Nikki Sixx’s was perhaps the worst in terms of extensive drug use.
Slash
The 57-year-old rock legend previously admitted having been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease thought to have developed as a result of his former heavy drinking. He has also been open about his previous heroin and alcohol problems. In his 1997 book, Slash also discussed the time he made the decision to go sober, stating: “First I kicked the drugs, then I cleared my head and did some work on figuring out why I liked to put myself in the same position over and over again. Early in the morning of July 3, 2006, I checked into rehab. I did a full thirty days, I fully surrendered… I learned more about myself than I ever thought was possible. And I’ve been sober ever since.”