Alice Cooper thinks God gave him "another chance" when he stopped drinking.
The 71-year-old rocker got sober 37 years ago and he has admitted that at the height of his alcoholism he would drink a bottle of whisky every day, arrogantly believing he was "indestructible", however, after being told by a doctor that he was putting his life at risk he looked to religion for guidance and felt it was a "gift from God" that he was able to go teetotal.
In an interview with The I Paper, he said: "I was drinking a bottle of VO [whisky] a day. When you’re 25 or 26 you think you’re indestructible. I started throwing up blood and that’s when you’re alarm goes off. The doctor said I give you two months before you join all the other Hollywood vampires, the guys that are gone. I took that seriously.
"I came out totally sober and it was basically a gift from God that I didn’t have to go to AA, so I looked at it this way, God gave me another chance and said, ‘Look I don’t mind you being a rock ‘n’ roller at all but also be a Christian,’ and I went, ‘OK, that sounds good to me.’ "
From his own experience the ‘School’s Out’ hitmaker has been able to help many other battle their demons.
He said: "People call me privately and go, ‘Listen don’t tell anyone but I need to find a place to check in.’ And I go, ‘The fact you’re calling me probably means you’re half way home.’ "
The ‘Poison’ singer – who married Sheryl Goddard in 1976 – now fills his days when he’s not touring or recording playing golf as it’s good to be "be addicted to something" that won’t "kill" him.
He said: "I’ve been married to my wife for 43 years and I’ve never cheated on my wife. I play golf six days a week and the reason is I had to find something that was going to be an addiction, because I like being addicted. But I want to be addicted to something that’s not going to kill me."