Florence Welch’s drinking "exploded" when she became hugely successful.
The Florence and the Machine singer was desperate to "hide" from the fact her songs were everywhere after the release of her debut album ‘Lungs’ in 2009 and she spent a lot of time intoxicated as a way to cope.
She reflected: "That’s when the drinking and the partying exploded, as a way to hide from it. I was drunk a lot of the time, on extra dirty Martinis – my way of drinking three shots at once. I was never interested in ‘a nice glass of wine’."
The 31-year-old star was in denial about how much her life had changed, and though she was frequently out for days at a time, the end of the parties always came as a shock.
She told The Observer magazine: "I’d be like, ‘I’m not quite sure [where I am], but I’m wearing someone else’s clothes…’
"The partying was about me not wanting to deal with the fact my life had changed, not wanting to come down. It always felt like something had picked me up and thrown me around various rooms and houses, then gone ‘Boom!’
"It happened every time, and every time it was shocking."
But these days the ‘Hunger’ singer has curbed her wild antics and it was a "revelation" when she first performed sober.
She said: "When I realised I could perform without the booze it was a revelation. There’s discomfort and rage, and the moment when they meet is when you break open. You’re free."
And though Florence can still find it hard to adjust after a gig, she loves the fact she can find something special in the "mundane" parts of life.
She said: "Mundane moments become incredibly profound. The performing, the transcendence, then sitting watching TV – all can coexist, and the mundane makes the magical. Maybe I’m trying to hold on to normalcy. Maybe because being onstage has become normal, the pockets of peace seem really wild. But I treasure them.
"Before, I thought I ran on a chaos engine, but the more peaceful I am, the more I can give to the work. I can address things I wasn’t capable of doing before."
Florence Welch drank to hide from fame
