MEMORIES
Steven Adler looking back; “I was a drunk, wasted freakin’ idiot” admits “I’m too old for this crap”
Blabbermouth — Former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler was recently interviewed by Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3. You can now listen to the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On rejoining GUNS N’ ROSES at several shows on the “Not In This Lifetime” tour in 2016, including three stops on the U.S. leg and one gig in Buenos Aires, Argentina, playing drums on “Out Ta Get Me” and “My Michelle”:
Adler: “It was so amazing. I thought for sure that Axl [Rose] and Slash and Duff [McKagan] were gonna go, ‘We’ve gotta bring Steve in more often.’ But they didn’t. And that’s okay. Like Freddie Mercury said, ‘One year loved is better than a lifetime alone.'”
On his well-publicized struggles with addiction:
Adler: “It sucks. But it’s life. And I’m not the first; I’m not the only [one to go through this]. I didn’t invent this shit. Unfortunately, I was born with this — what do they call it? — addictive personality. And I have other issues, like abandonment issues — my father left when I was born, so I never knew him. And then the band just deserted me, and that was really crushing. I went way over the edge on that one. There’s two ways I could have gone — I could have got myself better, which I was doing before they did that… I could have got better or went over the edge. There’s two ways to go — up or down — and I went way down. It was heartbreaking. It was just too much — overwhelming anxiety and depression, being thrown out like that. And then I had to sue them, ’cause they took all my money and my royalties. And that was a shame — that was even harder. I like to just think about the good times that we had. I look at the pictures of things that we’ve done — even just pictures of us hanging out at lunch or dinner in the past years. It’s just nice to see ’em. And Slash will always be a huge part of my life and my heart. And I love him. And I’m thankful that we are friends.”
On whether he ever reminds himself of his addiction struggles by watching himself when he starred on the second and fifth seasons of “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” and the first season of spin-off “Sober House”:
Adler: “Oh, God, yes. I watch that. And my wife, she has videos of me being a drunk, wasted freakin’ idiot [laughs], and so I watch those and [I go], ‘Oh, yeah. We don’t wanna go back there again.’ I recommend that to any parent or any friend. Anybody that has somebody [close to them] that has an addiction problem and has gone too far, you’ve gotta videotape your loved ones and show them when they’re sober. And it is eye-opening — it’s brutal. ‘Cause I myself, I never remember anything. I would get so drunk and high that it would be a blackout, and I wouldn’t know nothing. And then my wife would show me the videos, and I [would go], ‘Oh, aye yai yai. We can’t do this. This isn’t working. I’m too old for this crap.'”
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