Billy Idol is 'California sober'
Billy Idol has "got over" being a drug addict.
The 68-year-old singer claimed he made a choice to "not be a drug addict anymore" after he almost lost his leg in a motorcycle accident in 1990 and he feels "really lucky" that his substance abuse issues are behind him.
He told People magazine: "I really started to think I should try and go forward and not be a drug addict anymore and stuff like that.
"It took a long time, but gradually I did achieve some sort of discipline where I'm not really the same kind of guy I was in the '80s. I'm not the same drug addicted person.
"I mean, AA would say, 'You're always a drug addict.' And that may be true, but I don't do anything that much anymore. I got over it somehow. I was really lucky that I could get over it because a lot of people can't."
The 'White Wedding' singer considers himself "California sober" and is happy to indulge now and again without worrying it will set him down a slippery slope.
He said: "I can have a glass of wine every now and again. I don't have to do nothing. But at the same time, I'm not the drug addict that I was in the peak '70s, '80s...
"I'm, I suppose, 'California sober.' I just tell myself I can do what I want, but then I don't do it. If I tell myself I can't do anything, I want to do it. So I tell myself, 'You can do anything you like.' But I don't actually do it."
Billy finds it helpful to have sober friends around him.
He said: "A lot of my friends from the old days are sober. [My guitarist] Steve Stevens is sober and [guitarist/singer] Billy Morrison in my band is sober. There are people around me who are sober. That helps a lot."
