Music stardom, regardless of genre, is often correlated to alcohol and drugs. History has been filled with famous artists battling the demons, from Bix Beiderbecke and Charles "Bird" Parker Jr. to Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. Struggling with substance abuse has become an inevitable problem for the music world.
While it has become somewhat of a statistical oddity, there are, in fact, recording artists who got through most of their life without doing alcohol or drugs. Here are four music icons who have stayed clean throughout their careers.
Kendrick Lamar
Standing at the top of a genre that regularly sings about women, money, and drugs without drinking or doing drugs might sound weird, if not outright impossible. However, Kendrick Lamar is the living proof that this is possible.
In an interview with "The Arsenio Hall Show," K-Dot opened up about growing in a family that parties regularly, alcohol, and substance use included. It made him vow never to do the same and has become an advocate for drug-free living ever since. His latest album, 2017's "Damn," was released to critical acclaim. The world has been waiting for his return since his Pulitzer Prize-winning album. The activist and radio show host Henry Rollins was originally famous for being a hardcore punk icon, being the frontman for the 1980s band "Black Flag." Although the Sex Pistols inspired him, he has mostly avoided the recreational drugs and alcohol that comes with the rock lifestyle. With a clean lifestyle seemingly unimaginable for a rock icon like Rollins, a profile for the Los Angeles Times noted that he does not drink or smoke, While he doesn't consider himself a vegan, he only eats fish and no red meat. The only substance allowed in the 59-year-old lean, mean, punk rock machine is caffeine. Another popular character to defy the flow was Gene Simmons, also known as "the Demon" from the heavy metal band Kiss. The Jewish rock bassist explained that the reason he has consciously evaded drugs and alcohol was his mother's saying that he's an only child. "I was concerned I had no right to harm my mother. Life did that enough," Simmons said in the interview. His mother was a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust. He added that he didn't like the smell of anything with alcohol, adding that he will toast as a social convention, but that's it. He also published a book titled "27: The Legend & Mythology of the 27 Club" in 2018, looking back at the lives of famous musicians who died at the young age of 27, mostly involving some form of substance abuse. The Australian guitarist who carved an on-stage identity with his unique schoolboy uniform and incessant hopping on one foot while performing, Angus Young was a rock star who stayed clean throughout his career. Angus was the half of the Young Brothers who founded the band AC/DC, famous for heavy metal albums like "High Voltage" and "Highway to Hell." While the rest of AC/DC lived the total rockstar experience, Angus was a teetotaler. As the late Bon Scott and his brother Malcolm Young downed bottles of alcohol, Angus preferred a glass of chocolate milk, or coffee if he was looking for something stronger.Henry Rollins
Gene Simmons
Angus Young
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