Andrew Lloyd Webber has just revealed that although he announced in 2016 that he had not drunk alcohol in two years, while he quit drinking at the time while producing School of Rock on Broadway, he then secretly returned to alcohol and sought help just over a year ago.
The 78-year-old legendary composer admitted this The Sunday times newspaper: “I was doing what they call ‘white knuckling’, without any support, and I started to worry that I wasn’t being creative.”
“And I thought, ‘But I told everyone I don’t drink.’ So I started secretly drinking…’ he confessed.
“I’m a recovering alcoholic. Sixteen months ago I decided I needed help and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Andrew admitted.
The Cats The composer said he would go into a “downward spiral” before getting sober in 2024, and his family was very concerned.
He recalled: “You think it’s a secret, but it’s not. Everyone knows. I started to go into a downward spiral and about eighteen months ago the family was in a desperate state. My wife felt like she couldn’t go on.”
Andrew attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting in Switzerland, and then others in Britain, and he “adores” the sense of community he has found within the support groups.
He said: ‘People always said, ‘Oh no, you wouldn’t like that.’ And you get the idea that it’s a whole bunch of meth drinkers coming off the streets. Not at all.
“What I love about it is that you go into a room and everyone is equal. I have made friends that I never thought possible,” he said. Evita called composer.
Andrew – who now attends a meeting every day – explained that his turning point came when he heard someone else talk about the ‘stupidity’ of addiction.
He said: “It was about the ridiculous lengths you go to, the hiding and the pretending. If you’re a wine drinker, you don’t think of yourself as… well, alcoholics drink liquor.”
“That was the shocking thing for me, when I realized I was drinking vodka to cover it up,” Andrew said.
He continued, “You’re not really thinking. It’s just, ‘How do I get through the day?’ I felt like I was seriously worried that I wasn’t writing, and I started to panic. ‘Maybe I’ll have a drink. Okay, I wrote something.” Because it does free you a bit – but then it becomes more and more.”
“I’m lucky nothing went terribly wrong. I didn’t have a terrible accident. But then you start thinking about the near misses… I thought I got away with it. I’m very sorry and I can only apologize to people if I messed up,” said Andrew Lloyd Webber as he apologized for the pain he caused while under the influence.
