Andrew Lloyd Webber speaks candidly about his path to sobriety The times In a new profile he is an alcoholic.
“I am an alcoholic,” the composer told the outlet in an interview published on Saturday. “Sixteen months ago I decided I needed help, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Lloyd Webber previously announced that he had stopped drinking during the production of the Broadway production School of rock In 2015 and 2016, although he said The times That he “began drinking secretly.”
“I was doing what they called ‘white knuckle’, without any support, and I started to worry that I wasn’t creative,” he said. And I thought, “But I told everyone I was.” no Drinking. So I started drinking secretly.”
The EGOT winner explained that he “started going into a downward spiral and about 18 months ago the family was in a desperate situation.” “My wife felt like she couldn’t go on,” Lloyd Webber added.
Then he entered the clinic The times “It didn’t work,” he noted, leading him to attend an AA meeting in Switzerland, and more in the UK. When attending meetings, Lloyd Webber said he “adored” AA.
“People would always say, ‘No, you won’t like that.’” And you get the idea that there’s a large number of meth drinkers coming off the streets. He said: Not at all. “What I love about it is that you walk into a room and everyone is equal. I’ve made friends that I didn’t think was possible.”
Lloyd Webber attends the meeting every day, and recalls a turning point when one of his fellow attendees was describing the “stupidity” of addiction. “It was about the ridiculous lengths you would go to, hiding and pretending,” he explained.
“When you’re a wine drinker, don’t do that He thinks “You also…well, alcoholics drink spirits. That was the shocking thing for me, when I realized I was drinking vodka to cover it up,” he said.
Lloyd Webber was asked if he wrote any of his famous musicals while drinking, and he replied: “Probably not.” a lotbut I can think of a couple of songs that were big hits, where I definitely had a glass of wine and thought, that was good. However, the outlet noted that there are things he does not remember over the years.
“I’m lucky nothing major went wrong. I didn’t have any terrible accidents. But then you start thinking about the near misses,” he said, adding that he believes some people may have avoided working with him “because word gets around.”
“I thought I was getting away with it,” Lloyd Webber said. “The thing is, I’m deeply sorry and I can’t apologize to people unless I make a mess.”
