Benji Madden felt like Good Charlotte was going to "kill" him.
Whilst reflecting on the rockers last decade as a band, the guitarist – who is married to Cameron Diaz – insists if they hadn’t taken time off to find themselves in 2011, they could’ve ended up in an even darker place and their career could have been over permanently.
He explained: "We were breaking down after doing five albums in 10 years. It was like being thrown out of a plane without any warning, and suddenly we realised that there was no parachute. We hung in there and toughed it out, but eventually I couldn’t help thinking, ‘This thing’s going to kill us if we don’t take a second for ourselves.’ All of us needed to figure out who we were outside of Good Charlotte, what we wanted to do with our lives, and there was no point doing this if it wasn’t exciting any more."
Recalling the same difficult period in the group’s history, lead vocalist Joel Madden – who is Benji’s twin brother – admits he felt like his whole life was revolving around what everyone else wanted and he wanted a break because he wasn’t prepared for his children, son Sparrow, six, and daughter Harlow, eight, and wife Nicole Richie to come second.
The ‘Makeshift Love’ hitmaker told Rock Sound magazine: "We made a record at the end that almost felt like an exercise. My son (Sparrow) had just been born, and my daughter spent the first two years of her life on a tour bus. I was missing a lot at home, and we all had our families to think of. It had become more about what other people wanted – the fans, the label, not wanting to let anyone down."
Benji Madden: Good Charlotte was ‘breaking down’
