Addiction is a very serious problem in the music world, especially in artists who experienced successes earlier on in their careers, and struggle to adjust with the times changing against them. In a recent interview, Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses claimed he was almost at recovery until he was kicked out of the band, spiralling him into a depression.
Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, who has experienced substance abuse throughout his life, has recently claimed that he was getting better before his bandmates fired him back in 1990.
“It sucks. But it’s life. And I’m not the first,” the drummer told Iowa’s Lazer 103.3. “I didn’t invent this shit. Unfortunately, I was born with this — what do they call it? — addictive personality.”
Adler explained that he’s always struggled with abandonment issues as well, starting when his biological father left when he was just a baby. “And then the band just deserted me, and that was really crushing,” he added, stating that that event sent him and his addiction over the edge.
“I could have got myself better, which I was doing before they [fired me],” lamented the drummer. “I could have got better or went over the edge. There are 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…”
The rocker also reflected on when he had to sue his former bandmates in the early ’90s, “’cause they took all my money and my royalties. And that was a shame, that was even harder.”
Adler doesn’t like to dwell on the morose sides of his past, though. He’s appreciative of the good times he had while in the band, and even more grateful for his ongoing friendship with Slash.
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Guns N’ Roses brought Adler on board for a handful of Not in This Lifetime reunion shows back in 2016, where he played a few Appetite for Destruction tracks. While the drummer wished he would have been more involved in the tour, he maintained his optimistic attitude.
“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,” he said.
“Like Freddie Mercury said, ‘One year loved is better than a lifetime alone.'”
Listen to the full interview with Steven Adler below.
https://soundcloud.com/hallpass-lazer1033/andy-hall-interviews-steven-adler
