Andrew Lloyd Webber, 78, reveals he’s a recovering alcoholic after desperate ‘downward spiral’

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed he is a recovering alcoholic (Picture: Getty)

West End composing titan Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed at the age of 78 that he is a ‘recovering alcoholic’ after a ‘desperate’ spiral just 18 months ago.

The theatrical star previously checked himself into a clinic to deal with his addiction, which he said didn’t work, before then attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings in Switzerland and the UK, which he “adored”.

This came after he admitted that has wife had felt that she ‘couldn’t go on’ in the face of his addiction just months ago.

‘I am a recovering alcoholic. Sixteen months ago I decided that I needed help and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,’ Lord Lloyd Webber told The Times in a new interview.

‘You think it’s secret, but it’s not, everybody knows. I started getting into a downhill spiral and about 18 months ago the family were in a desperate state. My wife was feeling she couldn’t go on.’

The writer of songs behind musicals such as Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Phantom Of The Opera revealed that he now attends an AA meeting every day while moving between his homes in London, Hampshire and New York.

Pictured last Sunday with Elaine Page at the Olivier Awards, Lord Lloyd Webber said he sought treatment 16 months ago (Picture: Getty) He has had massive success with musicals, including Evita and Cats, and in partnership with lyricist Tim Rice (pictured together in the 1970s) (Picture: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty)

His wife is Madeleine Gurdon, whom he married in 1991 and with whom he shares three children; he was previously married to Sarah Hugill, with whom he had a son and a daughter, and singer Sarah Brightman.

He added: ‘People had always said, “Oh no, you wouldn’t like that”, and you get this thought that it’s a load of meth drinkers coming in off the streets. Not at all.

‘What I love about it is you go into a room, and everybody’s equal. I’ve made friends that I wouldn’t have thought possible.’

Lord Lloyd Webber said he had been noticed at the meetings but that this was ‘not an issue’, while sharing that his current favourite meeting he had attended was in St Louis with ‘a whole load of rednecks’.

Lord Lloyd Webber said his wife, Madeleine, ‘felt she couldn’t go on’ in the wake of his drinking (Picture: Getty)

The star said that the turning point in his battle with addiction was hearing someone else describe the ‘stupidity’ of it and ‘the ludicrous lengths you go to, the hiding and the pretending’.

He also admitted that ‘wine drinkers’ don’t tend to think of themselves as alcoholics because they ‘drink spirits’ – but ‘that was the shocking thing for me, when I realised that I was drinking vodka to hide it’.

‘You don’t really think. It’s just, “How am I going to get through the day?” I got that thing of seriously worrying that I wasn’t writing and panicked. “Maybe I’ll have a drink – OK, I’ve written something”, because it does slightly liberate you — but then it’s more and more and more.’

The musical star, who recently had success with a production of Evita starring Rachel Zegler (pictured), is now selling his wine cellar (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty)

The London-born composer went on to say that one of the songs he wrote while under the influence was No Matter What, which went on to be a hit for the Irish boyband Boyzone.

It comes after Lord Lloyd Webber’s brother, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, announced he will receive treatment for prostate cancer earlier this week, having celebrated his 75th birthday on Tuesday.

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