06/10/2026
This article stirred something in me.
I agree that musicians should not be used as a way to "sell" recovery. Their stories are not marketing tools. They are human stories. They are brave stories. They are powerful stories.
What I do deeply respect is when musicians choose to speak openly about addiction, recovery, and what it has really cost them to survive. That kind of honesty matters. It gives people permission to stop hiding. It creates space for others to say, me too. I want that too. What could that look like for me?
I work with musicians trying to attain or maintain recovery, so I know how much courage it takes to speak out loud about these things. For so long, addiction and mental health struggles have lived behind the curtain, hidden beneath image, performance, and expectation.
I know this because I have lived it too.
Being open about the fact that I have 18 years clean and sober has created conversations I never could have forced any other way. People have quietly stepped toward me and said they want that too. They want hope. They want peace. They want another way to live.
That is why this matters.
When musicians with visibility have the courage to live recovery out loud, it does more than shape headlines. It creates safety for musicians at every level, and for humans far beyond the music industry, to believe healing is possible.
That kind of visibility can save lives.
Full article: https://www.gigwise.com/how-musicians-are-reshaping-the-conversation-around-addiction-recovery/
(source: Dr. Emily Watson)
