Dennis Quaid has revealed that he spent years physically recovering from cocaine which was a "spiritual journey" that led to his new gospel album.
The 69-year-old Hollywood actor, famous for roles in a string of hit films, including The Big Easy and The Right Stuff, spoke to US entertainment show Extra on Thursday about his new musical release, Fallen: A Gospel Album for Sinners.
“I was addicted to cocaine for quite a while,” he said. “I went into rehab for that and got clear of that.
“They say you need a higher power to overcome that.... I spent a couple years physically recovering from all that.”
The star said that he has “always been” religious, he was “running away from it a lot.”
“I tried to do it my way for so long with other things you’re looking to fill that hole with,’ he added.
Tracks on the album include, Please Don’t Give Up on Me, What a Friend We Have in Jesus and On My Way to Heaven, the latter of which he says explores his addiction.
“I had a band back then and it was the night that we were performing at the Palace Theatre in Hollywood and we got a record deal, but we broke up because I was just a mess,” said the Great Balls of Fire star.
“I went home and really had this white-light experience and I saw myself continuing down this road and being either dead or in jail or losing anything I really cared about.
“So, I checked myself into rehab and gutted through it.”
According to a press release for the album, Quaid’s whose last album, Out of the Box, was released in 2018, "also vulnerably acknowledges these personal struggles and his subsequent return to Christianity on songs like the title track.”
He praised his wife of three years, Laura Savoie, for also keeping him anchored. “God is in my wife and I’s relationship and it’s another thing that I never really had before.
“She and I have such a beautiful relationship, and we pray together.”
The actor was previously married to Kimberly Buffington, with whom he fathered twins Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, 15, from 2004 and 2018.
He wed Meg Ryan - with whom he shares son Jack, 31 - from 1991-2001 and P.J. Soles from 1978 until 1983.
