Former Keane frontman Tom Chaplin has said he was a “complete mess” by the end of 2014 due to his drug use.
The 37-year-old said his decision to leave the band in 2013 and go solo saw him hit a creative brick wall, after which he “started using drugs again in a major way”.
The singer, who is now clean, told ITV’s Loose Women panel his “moment of clarity” came when he thought he was having a heart attack after a four-day binge on cocaine during which he did not sleep.
Great chat with @tomchaplin. Thank you for being so candid about your experiences. You should be very proud. ❤️ #LooseWomen pic.twitter.com/R9bPEWtAs7
— Loose Women (@loosewomen) December 13, 2016
He said: “At the very beginning of last year, I was staying at a friend’s house, I was on my own and I’d been up for three or four days without any sleep and I’d just been taking cocaine non-stop.
“I felt like I was having a heart attack and I suddenly had this realisation, I’m losing everything – my life, my daughter, my wife, everything is going to go. So I just felt different in that moment, it was very strange, you know, people are always like that ‘moment of clarity’.”
In 2006 the band cancelled their North American tour while Tom was being treated for drug and alcohol addiction. Two years years prior to that the band released their first album, Hopes And Fears, which won them a Brit Award not long after its release.
It's finally here! You can get yours from https://t.co/qNHUIPOi03. Thank you for your incredible support. #TheWaveAlbum pic.twitter.com/4zgQRnXuOy
— 🌊Tom Chaplin (@tomchaplin) October 14, 2016
The band is currently on a break and Tom’s debut solo album, The Wave, was released in October.
The singer said his wife, Natalie, is an “amazing woman” who has stood by him through it all.
“That’s the crazy thing about an addiction I think, is that it wants to take you away from the things that are truly important, that will truly make you happy in life,” he said.
“She (Natalie) coped with it amazingly. She has stuck by me over the years and these problems have come back, resurfaced many times and she’s stuck with me, she’s an amazing woman.”
