Meta Description: Discover how Paul Weller’s 14 years of sobriety have transformed his life and music. The legendary artist opens up about his reasons for quitting and the positive impact on his creativity.
Paul Weller has opened up about his 14 years of sobriety, discussing the reasons why he decided to kick the habit to protect his reputation, his music, and his personal life.
Paul Weller’s Sobriety Journey
Sobriety is no strange thing in music, especially as rock stars grow up and out of the crazy days of their youth. Elton John, Ringo Starr, Tom Waits, and Stevie Nicks are among those who are now sober, either after kicking severe addictions or simply looking to protect their health for a lengthy career. For Paul Weller, the decision to go sober was part of a general mental shift later in life.
As Weller released his 17th solo album, 66, this year, he claimed that getting older was making him more “experimental.” He said, “The older I get, the more open-minded I get,” and being open to sobriety was part of this after his wife gave him an ultimatum over his habits in 2010. Now sober, he said to The Big Issue in a new interview, “Everything changed when I stopped drinking. It’s like night and day, it really is.”
The Turning Point for Paul Weller
Weller elaborated on the turning point, saying, “When you’re younger, you’re just a funny pisshead. Then you cross a line at a certain age and you’re just another old drunk. It’s a hard thing to admit, but once you do, it gets easier.” The desire to not be “another old drunk” led him to pursue sobriety. “It was something in my body that said, ‘You’ve got to stop now.’ It was a bigger force than me just consciously saying, ‘I’ve got to stop’, which I’d said many times,” Weller said of the tipping point moment.
The Impact of Sobriety on Weller’s Music
Since embracing sobriety, Weller has noticed a profound impact on his music and creativity. Contrary to the myth that intoxication fuels creativity, Weller found that sobriety enhanced his connection to music. In 2021, he told The Guardian, “Since I’ve been sober, which is 11 years this year, I get more from music.” He added, “Not just my music, but all music. It means more to me, and it’s more direct to my heart and my soul. And certainly playing it. Playing sober is so different because you become more conscious, you’re more in the moment. And that changes everything.”
Gratitude and Reflection
Paul Weller is now in a place of incredible gratitude for his decision to embrace sobriety. “It brings so much more clarity to your thinking and your actions, how you view the world,” he said, “I’m glad I’ve got to this point in my life.” In a three-star review of Weller’s latest album, 66, Far Out wrote: “The record is reflective, sentimental, and, in places, spiritual. For the most part, Weller sings with a warm optimism that only meets doubt on a couple of occasions for comparatively introspective ballads.”
