Mastodon guitarist and vocalist Bill Kelliher has been sober for about two years now, and has said in previous interviews that his sobriety has really helped with his creativity. In an interview with the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Kelliher says he nearly died around 2009 from alcohol-induced pancreatitis, and got on the road to being sober because he didn't want to continue to put his wife (and now kids) through that.
I don't know. I guess I just realized I was I was overindulging and it was starting to harm other people you know and I needed to stop being selfish because I almost died when I had pancreatitis in London. It was 2008-2009 when I got sick and almost died from pancreatitis and that was a direct cause of drinking too much for many, many years and putting my pancreas out of commission. That's when it really all started for me because I come from a pretty alcoholic family as most people do. I just kind of decided I need to curb this. I’m killing my wife and she’s sticking with me through all this [expletive] I've been doing. You hurt the people around you the most. I don't want my kids to see their dad like this drunk person. Luckily, my kids have never seen me drunk so I don't have to worry about that.
You just have to think of things that you're that you're grateful for. I’m grateful for everything, for every moment that I have had the chance to be alive and to do what I do for a living. It's amazing. I have such a wonderful family and my wife and my kids are amazing. You can’t think about yourself. You have to think about the people around you and the people that care about you and love you and don't want to sit there watch you destroy your life over alcohol and some drugs.
Bill's pancreatitis was actually the cancellation of a portion of Mastodon's 2010 tour dates, which had covered. We wish Bill all the best on staying sober in his life, and congratulate him on the decision to get sober overall!
