For the first time in her illustrious career, Lulu has come out publicly about her struggles with alcohol and eventually seeking rehab help, the Scottish-born music icon addressed her struggles with feelings of shame while secretly relying on liquid spirits.
During a recent interview with The Times, the iconic musician (born Lulu Kennedy-Cairns) admitted that she “was a secret drinker” because she wanted to protect the “squeaky-clean image of Lulu”, adding that she hadn’t even told her “well-known friends in recovery themselves. When I finally told them, they said, ‘How did we miss that?'”
Now 76-years old, old Lulu explained that addiction runs in her family, stating:
“It’s a family illness. The gene is there.” “For me, it had been controllable until I got into my sixties. After I became menopausal, with both my parents gone, the empty nest, looking around and seeing all the young kids in the music industry, I became more and more reliant on it and so it just got worse.” “For many years, and I can’t say how many, I had not been happy with the way I felt, not at all happy and (yet) unable to ask for help.”
Attending Arizona rehabilitation centers in 1991 and 2025, the songstress explained why she had remained silent until now:
“For years, I made a choice not to talk about (my alcoholism) publicly.” “I chose to wait until I had the language to understand it before I could start spouting off.” “I’ve learnt a lot from other people, their memoirs, and self-help books too, so maybe I can be of some help now.”
Looking back at the root of her addiction, the global chanteuse said she believes it was “the culmination of a life spent trying to suppress feelings”, while having to always support her family while maintaining her professional image.
Opening up about how she is doing now, she said that she has “never been happier in (her) life” and is more “in touch” with her feelings than ever.
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Raph_PH