Billie Joe Armstrong Says He Uses Prayer To Keep Sober
Posted by Joseph Lee on 03.01.2013
His backpack used to be filled with prescription drugs...
In an interview with Rolling Stone (via NME), Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong admitted to using "prayer through meditation" to help himself stay sober.
This comes after his stay in rehab following an on-stage meltdown late last year.
About his prescription drug use, he said: "I started combining them to a point where I didn't know what I was taking during the day and what I was taking at night. It was just this routine. My backpack sounded like a giant baby rattle."
He was sent to rehab after an incident in Las Vegas where the band's set time was cut short. Armstrong swore at the audience and destroyed his guitar on stage. It was revealed that he had relapsed after recovering from alcohol addition and went back to rehab.
He added: "I played onstage loaded a lot. I'd have anywhere from two to six beers and a couple of shots before I went onstage, then go and play the gig and drink for the rest of the evening on the bus. Fall asleep, wake up the next day, feel like shit, do soundcheck… it was over and over again. In that way, I was a functioning alcoholic.? I've been trying to get sober since 1997, right around 'Nimrod'. But I didn't want to be in any programmes. Sometimes, being a drunk, you think you can take on the whole world by yourself. This was the last straw. I had no choices anymore. People will remind me a little bit. Or I'll see a photograph. And it makes me so sick. No. I can't go there. That's my last drink. Which is good – it's documented. Anytime I feel like drinking, I can think about it."
