Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie Wood believes he came through his “druggy, drinking years pretty unscathed” because he’s still able to play music and paint.
Ronnie Wood believes he came through his “druggy, drinking years pretty unscathed”.
The 78-year-old Rolling Stones rocker spent years abusing drugs including cocaine and heroin as well as drinking too much alcohol but he’s been sober since 2010 and believes he made it through his addiction issues without too much serious damage because he’s still able to play music and paint.
He told The Times newspaper: “I came through all the druggy, drinking years pretty unscathed as far as the quality of my music and art goes.
“I’m really lucky that I didn’t have splurgy images and off-key songs and stuff.”
Ronnie went on to compare his issues to his former Los Angeles neighbour Sly Stone – who died in June aged 82 – admitting his pal let his addiction issues impact his career.
He said: “It went the wrong way [for Stone] because he got a reputation for not showing up for gigs. I’d batten down the hatches and tighten up for work, you know, whatever state I was in. I said [to myself], right, now you’ve got to get it together and play.”
He added of Stone: “He didn’t know where to stop and I did, luckily. He nearly blew up, he was just so high. I always put my high into creating.”
It comes after Ronnie recently admitted he feels “the best [he’s] ever felt” after being “clean and serene” for 15 years following “about 10” rehab stays and quitting smoking.
He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “It was that little voice inside me. I was bleeding out of every orifice. And I thought, f****** hell, somebody’s trying to tell me something, you know what I mean?
“And I had the wherewithal to listen to that voice, and say I’m going to get off the bus now, and doing it for myself. That’s what it was…
“I feel the best I’ve ever felt [now].”
However, Ronnie admitted going back on tour with the Rolling Stones sober was a “white-knuckle ride”, though he is grateful for his bandmates for being “really supportive” of his recovery.
He said of his previous drink and drug habits: “Before going on [stage]. And during, and after. That’s what it was for all those years. And then suddenly having to learn to fly.”
He added: “The boys were really supportive. Mick [Jager] was really supportive of me. We did some small shows, and I’d be there thinking, oh, God, we’ve got to go on, and he’d come up to me, ‘You’ll be all right, Ronnie.’ It helped me get through.”
And Ronnie admitted it is a “wonderful feeling” to have the support of “perfect strangers” thanks to “the fellowship” he has found at Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings.
He said: “The gathering of all those people, that street support, and that down-to-earth reliability and faith through people, the unity…
“It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to rely on perfect strangers, from all walks of life. Suddenly we’re all in the same lifeboat together, stranded at sea, and you pull together and come out the other end, if you’re lucky. And that’s what happened to me.”
Ronnie Wood came through his ‘druggy years pretty unscathed’
