Pop Culture
Staying Sober during Festival Season
Summer is almost here, which means one thing: festivals. That’s right…as we speak there are legions of music and culture hounds from…
Miles Davis, Alcohol Addiction and Environment: What Is The Connection?
At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, director Stanley Nelson premiered his latest documentary project Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool. The film…
Chris Cornell’s Widow Addresses Congress about Rocker’s Suicide and American Drug Addiction
Chris Cornell’s voice, arguably one of the most distinct and powerful in modern music, was tragically silenced in May 2017 after the…
Valentine’s Day, Addiction and Relationships: The Impact on Romantic Partners
We get how hard navigating healthy relationships can be already without the additional issue of addiction. With Valentine’s Day around the corner,…
VINCE STAPLES SPEAKS ON UNBROKEN SOBRIETY AND AVOIDING DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
It’s a common and dangerous misconception that substance use and the creative process are directly intertwined; that bands and recording artists do…
Three of 2018’s Must-See Movies about Addiction
2018, and the past few years before it, have brought about a heightened state of cultural awareness in practically all areas of…
Wilco Frontman Jeff Tweedy’s Addiction and Trauma Discussed in New Memoir
At Recovery Unplugged, we discuss at length the power of music to alter mood, improve our day and enrich our emotional experiences….
Richard Swift’s Alcohol Addiction & Legacy
Richard Swift’s alcohol addiction is sending shock waves through his family and the music community.Richard Swift was one of the most prolific…
Music: The Great Unifier
It doesn’t take perfect vision to see that our country and our world are divided, or that this division seems to be…
Richie Supa Debuts Powerful Music Video for “I Got This”
On September 28th, award-winning singer-songwriter, Richie Supa debuts his powerful new music video for “I Got This”. Set your calendar to share…
Remembering Glen Campbell – 1936-2017
Earlier this week, the world said “adios” to yet another music legend. Country superstar Glen Campbell passed away on August 8th after…
When Classical Goes Clinical: The Best Composers to Listen to While Healing
Let’s face it: not all of us are ready to turn on Rachmaninoff when we come home from work at the end…
A Chat with Blues Songwriter Marci Chevian-Hooper
If there’s one woman who has earned the title of “Ms.”, it’s Connecticut singer/songwriter Marci Chevian-Hooper, known henceforth as Ms. Marci. If you’re lucky enough to ever engage her in conversation, whether it’s about her life, her music, her recovery, her experiences or anything in between, it’s hard not to feel like you’re talking to the First Lady of Modern Blues. Recovery Unplugged had the recent fortune of speaking to Ms. Marci about her exceptional and somewhat unlikely life in music, as well as how it as sustained her recovery. The pleasure was all on our side of the telephone….
The Legacy of Lean
Some know it as “lean,” some know it as codeine-promethazine and many don’t know it at all. Although blues musicians were mixing…
Sing Your Life: The Positive Impact of Singing on the Brain
Ever notice how we often sing when we’re excited, exuberant or motivated? This is not a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence…
Head and the Heart Singer Josiah Johnson’s Addiction Treatment Going “Well”
There is a never a convenient time for addiction. It doesn’t wait until after you’ve realized your professional or personal ambitions, or until you’re “ready” or “prepared” for it. Seattle-based folk-rock band The Head and the Heart learned this first hand last year when vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and founding member, Josiah Johnson took a leave of absence from the group to enter treatment for drug addiction. The decision came at a decidedly breakout moment for THAHT, as they prepared to work on a new record and play some of their largest performances ever. For a while, the group struggled with filling the void left by Johnson, whose strained and longing vocal stylings gave the band a distinct sound and propelled them to success….
Recovery Unplugged Talks with Music Legend Darryl McDaniels
When we buy a record or a ticket to a live show, we tend to focus only on the finished product: the way the beat drops, the way the lyrics cut and resonate, the way the production evokes inexplicable emotion. Very few of us are thinking about what it took for the musicians to gain the confidence and impetus they needed to write the music, record it, get on stage to perform, and to keep performing. While we’re not so naïve as to ignore the decades-long relationship between popular music and substance abuse, it’s hard to imagine that this relationship can start so early. After speaking with hip-hop pioneer and founding member of Run-DMC, Darryl McDaniels, it became painfully clear just how deep this relationship often runs. What stood out most from our conversation, however, was the demonstration of music’s power to save lives rather than complicate them….
The Special Plight of the Touring Musician in Recovery
Summer is when touring musicians of all stripes hit the road to connect with their fans and expect their audiences. Touring is a fact of life for most musicians, and a great way stay immersed in their music while taking it to new cities and listeners; it can also be challenging for musicians who are in recovery, regardless of how far along they are on their journey….
The Evolving Depiction of Addiction Symbols in Popular Culture
Over the past few years, the themes of addiction and chemical dependency have been more and more prevalent in the television shows and movies we consume. This past winter, Netflix released two new series (Love and Flaked) that, while taking two decidedly different approaches to the concept, put addiction front and center several times during their respective seasons. The critically acclaimed HBO series Girls has also touched on the theme, while its network partner-series Vinyl has maintained it as a recurring source of dysfunction for its main character and his wife. This is, of course, in addition to the popular Showtime Series Nurse Jackie, which ran from 2009-2015 and focused on addiction as its primary narrative….
7 Rappers That Struggle with Addiction
No one is safe from addiction. More than 23 million Americans aged 12 or older — or 9.2 percent of the population — have abused drugs in the past month, according to the most recent 2012 data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Alcohol abuse is just as prevalent in 17.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults.
While some superstars are able to overcome addiction and clean up their acts quietly and swiftly, it takes others years of struggle. In “the rap game” it is prevalent and even glorified but addiction is even a problem for them.
Here are 7 Rappers that you may or may not have known have issues with addiction. Here is what they had to say about their addiction:…
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Relapse
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is back on the wagon. The Tudors actor, who has struggled with substance abuse for years, opened up about a “minor relapse” he recently had via Instagram on Tuesday, May 26….