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[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

I think this bit about Chris is what she alluded to when talking about her time at her house in Kent, especially after a few years and all the busyness of renovating etc was done. She always couched it in terms like "I got in a bit of trouble" etc... every so often she'd give a little more detail, like when she told how she'd fallen down some stairs in the house and injured herself because she'd been drinking whilst taking pain meds, which she called a "no-no". She was a bit more honest about that stuff in British interviews on radio and tv than in the US. It feels like maybe she felt her UK interviews wouldn't get as noticed or nitpicked by the US contingent ie Stevie and her handlers. (Though she found out with the 'we are done' comment that they were still listening, so she had to famously walk that back). And her seeking out a therapist can't have just been the fear of flying, because she'd been retired for multiple years and a lot of other stuff had happened, including the end of her marriage etc. She made it clear she eventually got bored out in the country.... and strongly hinted she was drinking far too much.

I think they have all lied a bit about their sobriety, in that I think they've been selective about what that means, and what substances it includes. They all seemed to have kicked coke finally (though I've never actually heard stories of Mick going to rehab, and he was clearly as hooked as Stevie if not even worse) but they seem to think that kicking coke means 'going clean'. Alcohol seems to get a pass for most (I find it curious Stevie's team after her first rehab were afraid she'd turn to alcohol - not a bad assumption as addicts often switch from one addiction to another -- and that that was why they had her see a therapist. Yet she herself was so sure her drinking wasn't a problem). And none of them thinks smoking pot is taking drugs... she was clearly smoking in the DR doc and has mentioned it helps her be creative in some interviews in recent years. LB must still smoke but presumably not as much as before.... I'd bet money John and Mick still smoke it... not sure if it was Chris's thing. Mick I'm betting kept on drinking as well... when Bekka mentioned him puking in buckets I immediately thought of the famous "Steve" video where Mick got sick halfway thru a show and his drum tech Steve came out and played GYOW so they could wrap up the set. They said he was backstage throwing up....

I never take anything any of them say at face value....PR and all that..

Yep, I agree w/ all of the above. I do think Chris was more honest in the UK interviews. esp as she got older, it seemed she would just say whatever came out of her mouth lol.

I've heard they all used pot occasionally on later tours. i don't think they really saw it as a drug.

i also think after sooo many years of using alcohol on the road, that the British members especially had a much harder time *not* continuing to use it, and maybe they fed off each other in that regard. If mick is sitting there having a drink, you don't think john and chris wouldn't wanna have a glass of something in their hands, too? lol i think that's a given.


and i agree with how you said they were 'selective' in what being sober meant and what substances were included. maybe they weren't doing long lines of coke every day and night....but that didn't mean they weren't drinking a little something before and after shows... and maybe a little toot now and then. it's like everything was relative to what they'd done before, which was off the charts insane.

--Lis