Stephen Stills ‘comfortable’ with sobriety

Stephen Stills is “comfortable” with sobriety and thinks he has reverted back to the person he was before the “madness” of fame.

Stephen Stills has got his “original personality back” after getting sober.

The 80-year-old rocker – who is best known as a member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash – hasn’t touched drugs or alcohol for three years and he is very “comfortable” with his life the way it is now because he thinks he has reverted to the person he was before the “madness” of fame touched his life.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: “I’m really comfortable in sobriety. It gets me back to the kid I was before this madness started, pretty affable and friendly.

“Things were so special at the beginning of my career before I sold a single record.

“But when you add poison into that mix… I’m just glad I have my original personality back.”

Stephen has been working on his memoir, reading old issues of newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to help jog his memory.

But while progress on the tome has been slow, he admitted it has been “a lot easier” writing while sober.

He said: “I’m going one word at a time.

“I’ve looked at the [old newspaper] issues from my birthdays throughout the years. That’s been very helpful since it puts you in that timeframe and suddenly your memories opens up.

“Brain cells holding hands at this age is a challenge. Things pop in sometimes and you find out you’re a decade off. It’s been a great tool.

“But I’m puttering with the book. I’ve found that the more things change, the more things stay the same. And I must say, it’s a lot easier doing this now that I’m sober.”

In January, Stephen reunited with Graham Nash to sing ‘Teach Your Children’ at the FireAid benefit show in Los Angeles, as well as performing Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’ with Dawes and Mike Campbell.

And while he doesn’t tour often anymore, he was very comfortable on stage with his “old pal”.

He said: “It felt like putting on an old shoe again. We just fell into it, and there it was. And the pleasure of playing with those kids made it even more special. I don’t see [Nash] a lot since he lives on the East Coast, but it was great to see my old pal.”