Ricky Wilson has apologised for letting fans down at a gig over the weekend after falling on “old drinking habits”.
The Kaiser Chiefs frontman – who revealed three years ago that he had quit drinking – sparked concern among fans at the band’s O2 Arena show in London on Saturday night (05.11.22) during which he appeared to be slurring his words and staggering on stage.
In a statement, the ‘Ruby’ hitmaker said: “I don’t want to make any lame excuses, I’ve met some challenges in this life I’ve led and stayed on top of them with the support I’ve always had around me.
“I made a mistake on Saturday night at the O2 and relied on old drinking habits. It’s a mistake that upset and disappointed many of you and those closest to me.
“I try to take pride in not letting people down and seem to have let myself down in that respect the other night.
“I’m doing everything that is necessary for me not to let that happen again – and will continue to.”
One fan had decribed the gig as a “shambles”, while another said they were “truly disappointed”.
The first gig-goer tweeted: “Drunk and disorderly performance is an understatement for what I witnessed tonight. Such a shambles. Unfortunately, this has to be the worst live performance I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The band are currently on tour across the UK after releasing new single ‘How 2 Dance’ last week.
Back in 2019 Ricky, now 44, revealed he had gone teetotal after recognising his issues with alcohol.
He said at the time: “On a personal level, I think it was bad. Enough to want to stop.
“But in the grand music industry scheme of things I think I drank less than most people spilled.”