10 musicians who don't drink

1 January 2023, 13:00

Need some inspiration for Dry January? These are the artists who've forsaken the booze for a healthier lifestyle.

Some have given up alcohol for health reasons, some have just never fancied it... but here are 10 musicians who've decided that the rock'n'roll lifestyle doesn't need to come with a hangover. If you're doing Dry January, good luck!

1. Elton John

   Elton's recent autobiography was extremely candid about his punishing cocaine addiction, which led to some sorry stories. On 29 July 2020, he marked three decades of sobriety, saying "I’m truly a blessed man. If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead."

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2. Anthony Kiedis

   The Chili Peppers' collective struggle with Bad Things is well documented, most notably in Anthony Kiedis's autobiography Scar Tissue. Original guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988, so it's just as well the band have overcome their demons.

   

3. Ozzy Osbourne

   Ozzy is famous for his partying days. But health issues including a form of Parkinson's Disease mean he doesn’t drink a drop any more. In 2018, he marked five years sober, saying: "I got to a point where I ran out of options... I’ve got to learn to live life on life’s terms.”

   

4. Florence Welch

   Flo's last drink was on 2 February 2014 after years of overdoing it. She told Rolling Stone: "Being an extreme drinker was a huge part of my identity. When I stopped, there was this sense that I was letting some ghost of rock history down that I just couldn’t cope anymore. It was monumental. It was like, 'I’m going to die. I need to stop'."

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5. Chris Martin

   Chris Martin is famous for his healthy lifestyle – you just need to look at him to see that. He doesn’t drink, smoke, or even sip coffee. Lily Allen claims that the Coldplay frontman even staged an intervention on her following an unpleasant night where she apparently head-butted actor Orlando Bloom.

   

6. Lana Del Rey

   The Video Games singer told GQ magazine in 2012 that she was sent to boarding school at the age of 14 to "get sober": "I would drink every day. I would drink alone. I thought the whole concept was so f**king cool. A great deal of what I wrote on ‘Born To Die’ is about these wilderness years."

   

7. Tom Chaplin

   Although Serge Pizzorno from Kasabian joked that Keane’s Tom Chaplin indulged in too much port, the Bedshaped singer checked himself into rehab in 2006. Nowadays he prefers a golf club to a night club.

   

8. Ringo Starr

   The former Beatle was a notable lush in the 1970s, hanging out with hell-raisers like Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson, but the drummer and his second wife Barbara Bach found things got so bad in the early 80s that the pair checked into rehab and haven't looked back. "I just couldn’t really move without alcohol," said Ringo.

   

9. Eminem

   After a near-fatal overdose in 2008, the US rapper kicked everything and marked 12 years sober in April 2020.

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