Famous Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber Opens Up, Says He’s A Recovering Alcoholic

Acclaimed English composer of musical theatre and EGOT award winner, Andrew Lloyd Webber, has shared his alcohol addiction and journey to sobriety. He told The Times in an interview that he is a recovering alcoholic.

The composer had earlier stated that he had stopped drinking while producing the Broadway production of School of Rock in 2015 and 2016. He told The Times that he “started to drink secretly.”

“I am a recovering alcoholic,” he disclosed. “Sixteen months ago, I decided that I needed help, and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

“I was doing what they call ‘white-knuckling’, without any backup, and I started to worry that I wasn’t being creative. And I thought, ‘But I’ve said to everybody that I’m not drinking.’ So I started to drink secretly.”

The composer narrated that he began going downhill about 18 months ago, and his family were in a desperate state, and his wife was feeling she could not go on.

It was then that he checked himself into a clinic, which The Times noted: “didn’t work.” It then made him attend an AA meeting in Switzerland, and more meetings in the U.K. Doing this daily, he recounted a turning point when a fellow attendee was describing the “stupidity” of addiction.

When asked if he wrote any of his successful musicals while under the influence of alcohol, he replied, “Probably not a lot, but I can think of a couple of songs that have been hits where I’d definitely had a glass of wine and thought, that was all right.”

The Impresario was, however, contrite, saying he was deeply sorry and apologised to people if he had made a “mess”.

By Bukola Ogunsina

Acclaimed English composer of musical theatre and EGOT award winner, Andrew Lloyd Webber, has shared his alcohol addiction and journey to sobriety. He told The Times in an interview that he is a recovering alcoholic.

The composer had earlier stated that he had stopped drinking while producing the Broadway production of School of Rock in 2015 and 2016. He told The Times that he “started to drink secretly.”

“I am a recovering alcoholic,” he disclosed. “Sixteen months ago, I decided that I needed help, and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

“I was doing what they call ‘white-knuckling’, without any backup, and I started to worry that I wasn’t being creative. And I thought, ‘But I’ve said to everybody that I’m not drinking.’ So I started to drink secretly.”

The composer narrated that he began going downhill about 18 months ago, and his family were in a desperate state, and his wife was feeling she could not go on.

It was then that he checked himself into a clinic, which The Times noted: “didn’t work.” It then made him attend an AA meeting in Switzerland, and more meetings in the U.K. Doing this daily, he recounted a turning point when a fellow attendee was describing the “stupidity” of addiction.

When asked if he wrote any of his successful musicals while under the influence of alcohol, he replied, “Probably not a lot, but I can think of a couple of songs that have been hits where I’d definitely had a glass of wine and thought, that was all right.”

The Impresario was, however, contrite, saying he was deeply sorry and apologised to people if he had made a “mess”.