Pete Townshend says that he recently escaped an addiction to prescription painkillers.
The Who guitarist, who’s dealt with drug issues in the past, said his health was not a consideration as he and Roger Daltrey wondered what they might do next.
Their current US tour is billed as a farewell – and although Townshend doesn’t want to stay on the road, that doesn’t mean he’ll stop making music, as he told the New York Times in a recent interview.
“I went through a period of feeling very depressed,” he said of his recent issues. “And when I had the knee operation early this year, I got re-addicted to painkillers. This is the way rock stars die, OxyContin.”
He continued: “I’d gone through severe alcohol addiction for many years, then narcotics. I’d been clean for over 30 years. I called a close friend who’s working for a recovery clinic in Spain, and he got my head sorted out. I’m feeling really good at the moment.”
