In the latest episode of Club Random with Bill Maher, Mötley Crüe drummer and infamous wild child Tommy Lee revealed that he is sober and has no plans of going back.
LISTEN NOW: Tommy Lee tells Bill Maher he’s traded his crazy days for sobriety
In a casual sit down, Tommy Lee revealed (to Bill Maher’s disappointment) that he is celebrating a full year off of alcohol and drug use, though joking that his definition of celebrating is a lot more tame now. “It’s like, I make it a year and I’m so stoked that I make it a year that I celebrate” by, he said smirking, breaking his sobriety. “That is peak rockstar on so many levels” Bill Maher laughed in response. Later on in the podcast, the two discussed how the realities of substance abuse are, ultimately, far less funny.
“There’s no amount of poison that is ok,” Maher stated, pointing out the danger in notions of "casual" use of drugs or alcohol, to which Lee adamantly agreed. “Alcohol is a crazy one because it's easy to fall in love with,” he added. “The way it makes you feel, the way it makes you relax. And then all of a sudden you’re like… I’m drinking two gallons of vodka a day?!” Surprisingly enough, that was true for years in Lee’s life. Doing the math, Maher couldn’t believe that the Mötley Crüe drummer was drinking 4 quarts of straight liquor each day. “I swear to God,” he told the comedian. “Gallons, the big handles. Two.”
Now at 61 years old, Tommy Lee couldn’t imagine binge drinking to the level he had, and is in fact, is surprised he made it to 61 at all. “I just did a full body scan, where they did head-to-toe, everything. And I can’t believe, with smoking, drinking, all the f***ing dumb s*** or the ‘fun’ s*** that I’ve done, that the doctor was like ‘You’re good.’” Thinking he must have mixed up paperwork, Tommy Lee went on to describe how he genuinely didn’t believe it when his doctor said he was in good health. "Your liver is on crutches at that point; it's just barely functioning. I just… don’t understand… and now it’s fine?”
Maher pointed out that becoming sober must’ve allowed his body to recover, to which Lee expressed serious gratitude. Mötley Crüe, as a band, all began their sobriety around 1990, when Lee said they sat down and realized that, “someone’s gonna not wake up one morning.” And while he has struggled and self admittedly slipped up since then, the musician is now more appreciative of his life then ever - with no plans to ever return to substance abuse. “I still can’t believe it, I pinch myself on a daily basis,” he admitted.
To check out more of this truly wild sitdown, you can stream the full podcast on the Audacy app here. And rest assured, Tommy Lee’s time with "Dr. Feelgood" will live in rock and roll infamy.