In a brand new interview with the That Sober Man podcast, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe — who has been sober for greater than 14 years — spoke about how exhausting it’s to navigate the challenges of sustaining his sobriety on tour. He stated (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I am fortunate in the truth that in my band, 4 out of 5 of us are actually now not consuming. And I used to be the lone ranger there for a few years. And it was form of exhausting, ‘trigger I stop and I am on this heavy steel bus with these fucking maniacs consuming and doing medication. After which my guitar participant Willie [Adler] stop consuming. And he hasn’t had a drink, and I have been sober 14 years — I feel he is hasn’t drank in 12. After which for the primary eight years of my sobriety — I am not speaking out of sophistication right here, ‘trigger he simply printed a guide, my guitar participant Mark Morton, referred to as ‘Desolation’. He received actually fucking unhealthy on opiates, heroin. I do not understand how I by no means received strung out, as a result of he and I did a fuck-ton collectively, however alcohol, she’s my child. His was opiates. So then for eight years, I used to be rolling sober with him and he was simply getting worse and worse and worse. And it was horrible, ‘trigger I am clear, I am sober and I am, like, ‘This dude’s gonna die. I am gonna discover him in his bunk lifeless, however I by no means pushed it on him, man, as a result of I did not prefer it when folks push shit on me. I by no means pushed it on him. I simply tried to maintain my aspect of the road clear and form of be a great instance, and if he ever needed to speak, he got here and talked to me and requested me for assist every so often.”
Blythe continued: “It was very exhausting — very, very fucking exhausting — ‘trigger I used to be taking a look at him, and he is a wise man, and I am, like, ‘Do not you already know you are fucking killing your self? Why are you doing this, you fucking fool? That is horrible.’ And I am taking a look at him pondering all that, and that is what folks had been saying about me for 22 years. So I needed to keep in mind that. I am, like, ‘Simply since you’ve been sober for 3 years would not make you the fucking king of sobriety, you dumbass.’ So I needed to simply be there, man. And he would speak to me, ‘I do not wanna die.’ And I am, like, ‘I do know, bro. That is what you have gotta do.’ After which he’d return out. After which lastly it labored. And he is been clear and sober six years now. After which our drummer Artwork [Cruz], he joined the band. He was nonetheless partying. He is been sober over two years now. So you have received 4 out of the 5 dudes within the band that do not do shit. And it is good. It is fucking nice. However for some time, it was me. I used to be a lone ranger. Anyone’s gotta put foot into the pool first.”
Blythe beforehand talked about his sobriety earlier within the month throughout an look on “The New Man” podcast with Tripp Lanier. Requested about how he received over the notion that basically artistic folks, together with nice writers, want alcohol or medication to search out their finest concepts or carry out to the very best of their skill, Randy stated: “That is a form of cultural mythos, particularly in rock bands, and much more so in a steel band. I consider that that mythos is form of shifting, that paradigm is shifting, and the younger children do not suppose it is as cool to be fucked up anymore like we did after we had been children. It was a part of the deal. And it is a lie, it is positively a lie that you just want all that stuff to do what I do. However it’s a cultural form of mythos that I purchased in to, not simply with music, however with writing, as a result of like another angst-riddled 20-something male American dude, I beloved studying Hemingway, I beloved studying Bukowski, I beloved studying Hunter S. Thompson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, all these members of this supremely male canon of authors who actually reshaped fashionable English literature. And all of them had just a few issues in widespread — all of them had been wild, did wild manly shit, which I am for. All of them drank to extra and customarily received into some sticky conditions every so often. It is a cornerstone of your id, it turns into so. So for me, in my twenties and thirties, I’d speak about being a author loads and I used to be doing all of the issues that each one these writers, Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson and Bukowski, all these guys did — I did loads of consuming, I did a decent quantity of womanizing, I did some fist preventing right here and there, I received into some loopy shit, I used to be training, I used to be doing all the issues the nice writers did apart from the writing half. That is the hart half. In order that’s that cultural mythos with the writers. After which with music, and being in a heavy steel band, and the form of cultural notion of that, that baggage, and me personally understanding a few of the legends from this who did drink and drug to extra, I purchased in to that. And in a way to start with, alcohol was helpful, and from time to time some medication had been helpful.”
Requested what he means when he says that alcohol and medicines had been “helpful”, Randy defined: “Properly, when you have a way of stage fright, a liquid braveness, a little bit bottled confidence [would always help in the early days]. And we had been very confrontational band, so our earlier gigs had been at home events, squats and issues like that. They weren’t even in golf equipment, and also you’re on the ground with folks, and [they were] very bodily. The gang can both aggressively not such as you or aggressively actually such as you — both means.
“There isn’t any faculty to show you the best way to be a frontman, the best way to get in entrance of individuals and do your factor,” Blythe continued. “You are not, like, ‘Okay, I am counting on my coaching,’ like a Navy seal, like falling again on to the extent of your coaching. It is, like, ‘Okay, let’s exit and see what fucking occurs.’ And so that may provide the nerves. And within the early days you, I might quiet these nerves with some alcohol. Most definitely. They do not name it liquid braveness for nothing. After some time, that inhibits your skill to do your job. Fortunately, in my case, I wasn’t doing Al Inexperienced. I am not Pavarotti. So if Pavarotti or Marvin Gaye received up there all fucked up, folks could be, like, ‘Oh my God, this sucks.’ While you’re in a heavy steel band, there’s a component of hazard to it, which I feel is efficacious in music, a minimum of in what we do. And there was positively a component of hazard to what we did. And alcohol was a part of that. The factor is, although, man, you do not want that. That is a lie.”
Concerning how he turned that nook, Randy stated: “I needed to get beat on the pinnacle repeatedly that I used to be going to die if I did not cease consuming. I can let you know about my first sober present if you’d like [to hear it]. We had been in Australia, and we had been on tour with a band referred to as METALLICA. And we had been out with them for a couple of yr over the course of two, two and a half years. We would achieved Europe, United States just a few occasions, and we ended this tour in New Zealand and Australia. And my final night time of consuming was in Brisbane, Australia. And I went out with some associates and simply received fully, completely fucked up, apart from that it did not work. I drank sufficient and I am positive had I been given a breathalyzer, they’d have been, like, ‘Jesus Christ, how is that this dude nonetheless alive? There’s nearly no blood left in his alcohol system.’ … And the alcohol, for me, was a factor that shut off the voices in my head, the voices that had been offended on the means the world was behaving, that had been offended at myself for my very own shortcomings and asshole-ish habits or ethical cowardice at occasions — no matter. The internal critic was extremely harsh — and nonetheless is typically. However I am making an attempt to ameliorate that every so often. However anyway, I went out and it stopped working. And I wakened in Brisbane on a resort balcony. And I seemed out on the road beneath… And considered one of my favourite bookstores on this planet was immediately throughout the road from the resort. After which down the streets extra had been nice eating places, loads of meals. After which over to the left was the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, that are cool. They usually’ve received all kinds of gorgeous, bizarre vegetation we do not have. And naturally it is Australia, so that you’re gonna see weird-ass animals and birds. It is only a attractive place. And so I seemed out from my resort balcony. And I had a collection. It was very good. We’re in Australia. I’ve received cash within the financial institution. I am on tour with fucking METALLICA. It is the most important heavy steel band in historical past, to not point out one of many greatest bands on this planet, interval. I’ve received cash within the checking account. My band, I’ve realized someway to operate effectively sufficient, drunk, that I can nonetheless do my job. I nonetheless had a romantic companion at the moment, a longterm romantic companion that ended ultimately, however at the moment I nonetheless had her. And every little thing on the surface was good. And I seemed out over this avenue and all this cool shit and I noticed I did not need to do something. I did not need to exist. It wasn’t like I felt suicidal, like ‘I wanna kill myself’, however I used to be, like, ‘I do not wanna be right here anymore. I simply need to vanish from existence.’ And I seemed over at this desk the place I had set the beer bottles from the night time earlier than ‘trigger I might been consuming for just a few days and I am form of a weirdo OCD dude with my environment. So I had very rigorously, even whereas intoxicated, lined these beer bottles completely up on this — you understand how bowling pins could be, like they’re simply completely lined up, touching one another. All of the labels are dealing with the appropriate means. ‘Trigger I am making an attempt to, by controlling my exterior setting, exert some form of management on the catastrophe that’s Randy. So I seemed over at these beer bottles that had been empty they usually had been stacked there and I noticed that they had been a metaphor for my life. As a result of on the surface, identical to my life, every little thing was excellent and orderly and instead. However, identical to these bottles, I had simply change into an empty receptacle for alcohol and medicines. And all it might take would simply be a little bit push, and people bottles would simply fall and shatter. So I seemed. I used to be, like, ‘Fuck. I do not wanna exist. I am simply an empty beer bottle now. And I assumed, ‘Man, possibly I ought to actually try to stop consuming, truthfully, this time,’ as a result of I might been making an attempt half-assed for, like, 4 or 5 years. And this time I took it severe. And I used to be, like, ‘Hey, I’ve to stop consuming.’ And so I requested the universe, I used to be, like, ‘God, please assist me.’ No matter’s on the market. I had this second the place it wasn’t, like… I did not have an image of a bearded dude within the sky or something, however I simply requested — I exploit the time period ‘God’ for lack of a greater time period. I requested, ‘No matter is on the market, please assist me as a result of I do not know what to do.’ I knew then, like, ‘Let’s cease and take a look at consuming,’ and a peace washed over me, like immense calm in that second. After I was simply, like, ‘I am fucked,’ ‘trigger that is the one means, when you have an issue, you are ever gonna get higher, is should you notice that you just’re fucked. It was a realization of actuality, to place it merely recognizing that I used to be certainly completely fucked. So I had this temporary second of immense peace wash over me, and it lasted for roughly 45 seconds. After which this little satan on my shoulder, like little Devil, he is all the time there or no matter, the demon, it was, like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Maintain on. Let’s suppose this via. Perhaps you simply had a foul night time. Perhaps you have simply had a foul 22 years of stable consuming and drugging. It was loopy. It was loopy. I completely did not wanna reside anymore. And it wasn’t the primary time I might felt that means. And I might had these repercussions for consuming… You are feeling like you possibly can’t operate. And I felt that. And I used to be, like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. A second in the past you had been all good, after which earlier than that you just needed to die and now you wanna drink once more. You are loopy. You might be loopy, bro.’
“A number of the guys in METALLICA‘s band and crew had been sober on that tour, they usually had had phrases with me,” Randy added. “I might been getting alerts for fucking 15, 20 years from dad and mom, household, kindly members of the Richmond Fraternal Order Of The Police, judges. I had a journalist in Richmond write a narrative about me, like, ‘This dude must sober up.’ I used to be, like, ‘Fuck you. Fuck you. You do not know what I do. Should you needed to do what I did, you’d drink too.’ So I used to be, like, ‘I feel what I am gonna do is I am simply gonna attempt to not drink.’ I decided, ‘trigger there was beer within the fridge proper there in that resort. I used to be, like, ‘I am not gonna go get a beer. I am not gonna go get a beer. I am gonna go to tonight’s present and I am gonna speak to those guys. I am gonna be, like, ‘Will you fucking assist me? What the fuck do I do?’ So I went to the gig, and I confirmed up early and I discovered a few these guys. I am, like, ‘Look, I am fucked. Assist me. I am making an attempt to be sober.’ They usually had been, like, ‘We received you, bro.’ And my hair was nonetheless lengthy then. I walked on stage that night time in entrance of 14,000 folks, falling to items, weeping hysterically. Fortunately, like I stated, I had lengthy hair, so I saved it in my face. And our music is, like, tremendous aggressive, so I am simply crying… I feel [the emotion at the time] was simply, like, ‘I do not know what I will do. What’s going on? What occurred to my life? How did I attain this level?’ It is like somebody had scraped my total pores and skin, like highway rash throughout my soul. So I stood on stage in entrance 14,000 folks screaming my head off whereas weeping uncontrollably. Fortunately, nobody might inform as a result of I used to be simply always working and headbanging. And I made it via that present. And that was my first day sober. And that was October 18th, 2010. I have not had a drink or a drug since.”
In a separate interview with the The Lydian Spin podcast, Blythe spoke in regards to the challenges of happening tour and being round people who find themselves consuming. The 53-year-old musician stated: “I could be form of delinquent generally anyway. By the top of my consuming, I simply needed to be alone: ‘Depart me the fuck alone, and let me drink.’
“I can exit,” Randy defined. “I am going to go anyplace. I am not afraid of being round alcohol or medication. If I used to be, I’d by no means tour once more. For me, being round completely shitfaced folks is pretty insupportable now. And so if I am going to a celebration, if there’s like a home celebration, associates of mine are having dinner, I am going to hang around and I am going to hang around till folks hit me with the ‘I like you, man,’ like a pair occasions. I am, like, ‘Okay, it is time to go. I had a good time, and also you guys can keep on and God bless. Good luck and godspeed. I am outta right here.’ So, I haven’t got an issue [being around people who are drinking], and I do not stroll round like some form of offended curmudgeon, like, ‘Do not fucking speak to me.’ And when I’m trapped by these folks, I take a look at it as a karmic debt. I take a look at it as a karmic debt, as a result of I fucking terrified and aggravated numerous folks for many years. So it is, like, what comes round goes round.”
Randy beforehand mentioned his sobriety throughout a September 2022 look on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”. He stated on the time: “It is not enticing to sit down up and fucking drink and snort coke and say a bunch of silly shit with a bunch of morons once you’re [in your early 50s]. It is simply not. [Laughs] I have not had a hangover in over [more than a decade]. I do not know if I’d survive one now.”
Requested by host Eddie Trunk if it was “robust” for him to be on the highway the place alcohol could be discovered in all places, Randy stated: “No. Hell no, dude. Seeing folks celebration and stuff, particularly once they ‘celebration celebration’ and get silly… I do not choose, but it surely makes it extra repulsive to me, ‘trigger I used to be, like, Jesus… I used to be fairly unhealthy. No one appears cool once they’re wasted, so it simply would not enchantment to me. And I’ve higher issues to do. I am making an attempt to do good issues with my life — write books and do images and shit like that. I am unable to try this once I’m drunk. Plus, man, I drank sufficient. I did it for 22 years. I am not gonna uncover something new in medication and alcohol.”
Pressed about whether or not it bothers him when folks round him are consuming, Blythe stated: “It would not trouble me. It solely bothers me in the event that they’re fucking wasted and saying silly shit to me after which I run. However it would not make me wanna do it, if that is what you are asking. It has the other impact. Seeing folks drink doesn’t trouble me in any respect. The one factor that bothers me is once they’re hammered and in my face. However apart from that, I do not count on the remainder of the world to behave… I am unable to count on the remainder of the world to behave in the best way I do and never drink as a result of not all people’s an alcoholic like me. Some persons are completely okay, and that is no downside. God bless. Have a great time. However should you’re wasted and the ‘I like you, man’ begins, then I simply dip out. It is not an issue.”
Blythe mentioned his battle with alcoholism and the way he received sober after a few a long time of consuming throughout a book-signing occasion and question-and-answer session for his memoir, “Darkish Days: A Memoir”, in 2015. On the time, he stated: “Most individuals, once they cease… It is totally particular person… Some folks hit backside as a result of they get up in jail, as a result of their spouse has left them, as a result of they have no cash left, as a result of they misplaced their job, or as a result of they only cannot… they cannot take it anymore.”
He continued: “After I wakened the morning… I wrote about this in my guide; I wrote in regards to the final night time I drank and the primary day of sobriety. I wakened, and I used to be on tour. I used to be in Australia. I used to be opening up for the most important band in steel, on this planet — ever, within the historical past of steel. I used to be in an exquisite place. I had cash in my checking account. My spouse hadn’t left me but — and he or she nonetheless hasn’t, someway amazingly. And every little thing on the surface of my life, to anybody taking a look at it, past the truth that I seemed form of busted, every little thing would look good. Like, this dude is on this band, he is on this tour on this stunning place. It is Australia, it is paradise. He is getting paid…. Not hundreds of thousands of {dollars}; do not get me mistaken. However he is getting cash. I wakened in the future and I simply didn’t need to do something. It is the strangest feeling to not need to… I could not consider a single factor I needed to do. I did not wanna eat, I did not wanna sleep, I did not wanna learn a guide, I did not wanna go to work, I did not wanna… drink. I could not think about not consuming. I did not need to do something. I felt fully empty.”
Blythe added: “So, for me, it was a really emotional flatline… like, backside. It wasn’t something traumatic by any means. I simply reached some extent the place I used to be, like, ‘I’ve gotta do one thing else, or else I would as effectively be lifeless.’ And I firmly consider I’d be lifeless [by now if I hadn’t stopped]. So it was only a bizarre factor. I do not know why. I drank 22 years — heavy — and eventually I received sufficient ache the place it is, like, ‘Okay, this sucks. I’ve gotta cease.’ However it’s completely different for everybody. Anyone who’s ever had a consuming downside can let you know that it is completely different for everybody.”
Blythe‘s second guide, “Simply Past The Mild: Making Peace With The Wars Inside Our Head”, got here out on February 18, 2025 by way of Grand Central Publishing (GCP).
“Simply Past The Mild” was described by Blythe as a “tight, concise roadmap of how I’ve tried to take care of what I consider to be a correct perspective in life, even throughout troublesome occasions.”
In December, Blythe introduced extra spoken-word and question-and-answer occasions to advertise “Simply Past The Mild”. The particular “night with” occasion features a spoken-word efficiency, an viewers question-and-answer session, a replica of “Simply Past The Mild” and a possibility to have the guide signed.
In 2012, Blythe was arrested within the Czech Republic and charged with manslaughter for allegedly pushing a 19-year-old fan offstage at a present two yr prior and inflicting accidents that led to the fan’s loss of life. Blythe spent 37 days in a Prague jail earlier than finally being discovered not responsible in 2013.
Blythe‘s jail expertise impressed two songs on LAMB OF GOD‘s 2015 album “VII: Sturm Und Drang”: “512”, considered one of his three jail cell numbers, and “Nonetheless Echoes”, written whereas he was in Pankrac Jail, a dilapidated facility constructed within the Eighteen Eighties that had been used for executions by the Nazis throughout World Warfare II. It additionally led him to jot down his first guide, “Darkish Days”, by which he shared his complete aspect of the story publicly for the primary time.