Despite the prevalence of addiction within the entertainment community, there are quite a few rockers who’ve been sober for 10 years or more.
There isn’t a concrete statistic for how many musicians are affected by addiction but a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2015 estimated that 12.9 percent of individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 that were employed in the arts, entertainment and recreation industries struggled with substance abuse in the prior year.
Plenty of factors contribute to how susceptible individuals are to abusing substances, but genetics, mental health disorders and the environment are three of the biggest.
A 2016 study published by Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy looked at 250 celebrities who died from drugs and alcohol between 1970 and 2015 and found that musicians accounted for 38.6 percent of the deaths.
The rock and metal community in particular has lost a lot of exceptionally talented and wonderful people due to addiction. But there are also many musicians in our world who’ve overcome their struggles and many have been free of drugs and alcohol for over a decade.
Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford, Alice Cooper and Elton John have all been sober the longest, going on over three decades each. And while there are some rockers in the gallery you may have already known struggled with substance abuse, there are a few you may not have realized had a problem with drugs or alcohol at all.
READ MORE: 10 Rock + Metal Legends on Getting Sober
Scroll below to see rockers who’ve been sober for 10 years or more.
If you or someone you know is struggling with drug and/or alcohol dependence, help is available through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website. To speak to someone on the phone, dial 1-800-622-HELP (1-800-622-4357) or send a text message to 1-800-487-4889.
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Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
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Gallery Credit: Philip Trapp
