Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe was one of metal's most prominent hellraisers through the late 2000s, and the talismanic singer is the first to admit that his drinking got way out of control by the time the 2010s rolled around.
Now sober for over 15 years, Randy has opened up on the moment he feels he hit rock bottom and decided to make a positive change - with an assist from the biggest band in heavy metal. Speaking on the Hard Lore podcast, Randy explains that it was while on tour with Metallica in Australia in late 2010 that things got to a head.
"I had been trying to get sober for a while, fucking around for about four years," he says. "I wouldn't drink at home because my wife at the time was sick of my shit - I can't blame her. And I would wait until we were on tour and then I would get dropped off at the airport, like, two hours early because I couldn't wait [to drink], and I'd be at the bar immediately, before tour's even started."
Once the tour with Metallica was underway, Randy's drinking escalated once again, until he decided enough was enough and reached out to the metal legends' frontman James Hetfield, who has had his own storied experiences with alcohol issues.
"We were on tour in Australia and one day I woke up and I didn't want to live any more," Randy reveals. "So I went to the gig in Brisbane and I talked to James. I'm like, 'Guys, help me' and they're like 'OK'. My first day sober, I played in front of 14,000 people, weeping my eyes out. Luckily I had long hair, so nobody could see!"
One day I woke up and I didn't want to live any more
Randy Blythe
As Randy explains, the touring lifestyle doesn't just lend itself to getting off your face all the time; it also leaves nowhere to turn when things go too far and you need to find somewhere or someone to project all your underlying issues at.
"Waking up in the hospital, getting in fights, getting divorced, not having anywhere to live, no money, all that shit," he continues. "I could just drink through all that because I could just blame someone else...but when you're sitting in a hotel suite in Australia, and you're on tour with Metallica, and you're getting paid and you're still miserable, there's only one direction to look."
When Randy is asked what 'day two' of being sober looked like after that profound first experience, the frontman exclaims: "Oh my god, what's going on with my life?! And James going, 'It's OK dude, hang in there,' 'cause he'd been there. All these guys knew, and they were like, 'Just go out and do your job and worry about today, all you gotta do is make it to the end of today. You're gonna be OK. That was 15 years ago!"
Watch the full episode of Hard Lore featuring Randy Blythe below. Lamb Of God's new studio album Into Oblivion arrives on March 13, while Metallica recently announced that they will be taking up a historic and long-rumoured residence at the Las Vegas Sphere.
