Richie Sambora still struggles "all the time" to stay sober.
The former Bon Jovi rocker, who has reportedly been to rehab at least three times, opened up about his addiction to drugs and alcohol before performing his new song, 'Lighthouse,' at an anti-drug forum at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River, New Jersey.
He said: "For me, it was not only a mental thing, but a physical thing. And it's also ongoing -- I still work at it all the time. I don't think that you stop."
The 54-year-old guitarist feels very lucky to be alive as "nine or 10 guys" he performed with in the past have died of heroin overdoses, but insisted he has never sampled the class-A drug, according to The Asbury Park Press.
He said: "The music business has its pitfalls, and I was lucky enough to survive, and be alive."
He added: "But obviously I did a lot of other stuff, and now I'm cleared up and all is good."
Richie, who says he has "had a charmed life," hopes his new track will serve as a "beacon of light" for anyone else struggling with an addiction.
He said: "I want to do something optimistic that was a beacon of light, a beacon of hope.
"People get to a point where they get overwhelmed and they drown in their doubt and that's when they're most vulnerable and that's when you let your faith shine like a lighthouse."

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West cut short their honeymoon to fly to Prague early on Thursday (29.05.14).
The couple, who got married in Florence, Italy last Saturday (24.05.14), reportedly jetted out of Ireland 48-hours ahead of schedule via private jet after enjoying five days in the countryside, during which they went hiking, mountain-biking and made two trips to the cinema.
A source told the Irish Independent newspaper that the duo, whose 11-month-old daughter North West is being looked after by her grandmother Kris Jenner in Los Angeles, departed Cork Airport shortly after noon because they made "a last-minute decision to attend a social event abroad."
Local police kept fans and photographers "some distance away from the embarkation area" and their plane took off approximately 15 minutes after they boarded.
The duo, who are travelling with four bodyguards and personal assistants, managed to stay under the radar for most of their time in Ireland, where they rented luxurious private estates in Cork, Limerick and Laois.
An insider told E! News: "It was just a totally different part of the world that they had never experienced. They were engrossed in the environment and they enjoyed being able to escape."
The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star, 33, and the 'New Slaves' hitmaker, 36, were spotted arriving in the Czech Republic on Thursday afternoon, ahead of his stylist's wedding on Saturday (31.05.14).

Jessica Alba admits she doesn't always listen to her children's opinions.
The 33-year-old actress, who has daughters Honor, five, and Haven, two, with husband Cash Warren, refuses to let them have an input when it comes to their holiday plans because she thinks it would result in "the worst vacation ever."
The 'Sin City' star told PEOPLE.com: "I do not listen to my kids' opinions. When they pay for the vacation, they get to dictate where we go. Until then, Mom and Dad are in charge. It would be Disneyland every day -- that would be the worst vacation ever!"
The brunette beauty is looking forward to taking the girls to the south of France this summer, where her mother-in-law has a house.
Jessica said: "There's so much lavender and greenery, she has a couple acres out there so the kids run around and it's really nice living that country lifestyle for a little bit."
The actress, who also runs her own eco-friendly brand The Honest Company, hates being away from her daughters when she has to work.
She said: "It sucks. I want to just be home. I just try to do the best I can and try to surround them with love and support when I can't be there. It's tough because you obviously want to be home with them, but it's also important that we're here at the company."

Angelina Jolie says her family have "helped to heal" her.
The 'Maleficent' star, who has six children, Maddox, 12, Pax, 10, Zahara, nine, Shiloh, seven, and five-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with fiancé Brad Pitt, admits she has gone through very "dark" times in the past, but credits them for enabling her to open up again.
The 38-year-old actress told E! News she can relate to her character in the movie, explaining: "I understood that journey. I've been dark, I've been hurt, I've gone walls up, angry and changed, and then children have softened me and opened me up again, and made me remember all those wonderful things and they've helped to heal me."
She added: "Our friends can do that, our loves can do that and our children do that, so it's a wonderful thing."
The 38-year-old actress has gone through some tough times over the years.
The brunette beauty underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carried the BRCA gene, a mutation that puts a person at higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer, last year because she was left devastated by the death of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, from ovarian cancer in 2007.
Angelina also revealed in 2010 that she used to self-harm and cut herself because she felt her life was empty before she became a mother.
She explained at the time: "I used to cut myself or jump out of airplanes, trying to find something new to push up against because sometimes everything else felt too easy.
"I was searching for something deeper, something more. I tried everything. I always felt caged, closed in, like I was punching at things that weren't there. I always had too much energy for the room I was in."

Busy Philipps has "a different reality" to Gwyneth Paltrow.
The 'Cougar Town' actress, who has daughters Birdie, five, and 10-month-old Cricket with husband Marc Silverstein, doesn't agree with the 'Iron Man 3' star's recent claims that Hollywood mothers have a "harder" time than most and feels very lucky to get a lot of time off.
Asked about Gwyneth's controversial comments, the 34-year-old star told the 'HuffPost Live' on Thursday (29.05.14): "God bless her, she really just says what she feels. That's her reality. That's her truth. It's just not mine. I have a different reality and a different truth."
She added: "Being a working mom, I've got it made. I'm on a TV show where my hiatus is [my kids'] summer, so I'm free to be with them in the summer time. I'm able to afford full-time help because of what I do. My husband also works, and my nanny makes my life doable and so easy.
"I feel like, for me, I have nothing to complain about in that regard...I don't ever feel like I have to stop myself from complaining about how hard it is to be an actress. I mean, it's not that hard."
Mother-of-six Angelina Jolie recently blasted her peers and said they "shouldn't complain" about how hard their lives are because they have "much more support than most people."

AnnaLynne McCord claims her parents physically abused her as a child.
The 'Dallas' star, who previously revealed she felt "suicidal" after being raped by a close friend when she 18, says her mother and father made her believe she didn't have a voice when she was younger, but she is now "done staying quiet."
The 26-year-old actress told Cosmopolitan magazine that she and her two sisters, Angel and Rachel, "grew up in an extremely religious and conservative" home, and were home-schooled by her pastor father and mother.
She said: "My parents believed in strict 'discipline,' as they called it - I would call it abuse. The punishments were painful and ritualistic. We would have to bend over the bed, sometimes with our pants down, arms outstretched, and get spanked--with a ruler in our younger years and later with a paddle that my parents bought when they thought the ruler wasn't strong enough."
AnnaLynne thinks she "pushed men to be violent" towards her when she started dating because of her the alleged abuse.
The former '90210' star explained: "After all, as I had learned in my childhood, people who loved me hurt me.
"Because of the physical abuse, I didn't believe there were borders between other people's bodies and my own. I didn't believe I had a voice."
The actress insists she has now moved on and has "profound intimacy" with her boyfriend Dominic Purcell.
She said: "I forgave myself for not standing up for myself, and I began channelling my experience into something good. I have my message for women and girls: You have a voice. Honestly, I would endure everything all over again - it has led me to my own revolution."

Kendall Jenner has been accused of buying many of her Twitter followers.
The 18-year-old model, who has worked for Chanel and makes her debut appearance in the new June edition of US Vogue, has approximately 7.99 million fans on the social media site, more than half of which are reportedly fake or "inactive" accounts.
A source told In Touch magazine: "Kendall and her sisters have bought a good amount of their followers."
The insider claimed that the young 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star, who recently splashed out $1.39 million on her first home in Los Angeles, deliberately boosted her number of followers in a bid to appear more popular.
Kendall allegedly gets $1,000 every time she tweets about liking a product or item of clothing.
Another source said: "She knows the more followers she has, the more she'll get paid to tweet."
Kendall, who was previously linked to Harry Styles, acted as bridesmaid at her half-sister Kim Kardashian West's wedding to Kanye West in Florence, Italy last Saturday (24.05.14).
She told Canada's 'eTalk' in an interview set to air tonight (29.05.14): "It was beautiful. It was filled with a lot of love."
Her younger sister Kylie Jenner, 16, added: "We can't say much, but it was amazing."

Cindy Crawford says her wedding "feels like yesterday."
The 48-year-old supermodel paid tribute to her husband, Rande Gerber, on her Instagram profile to mark their 16th anniversary today (29.05.14).
The brunette beauty shared a 'Throwback Thursday' photograph of them dressed in white and kissing on a beach, with the caption: "#tbt Happy Anniversary @randegerber! 16 years and it feels like yesterday!"
Cindy, who was also married to actor Richard Gere for four years until 1994, previously opened up about the secret to her happy marriage with the entrepreneur, with whom she has son Presley, 14, and daughter Kaia, 12.
Last year, she said: "We started off as friends, and I know that Rande and I, we will always be friends, no matter what.
"Being rooted and based in friendship, it keeps the relationship elevated. There's always a certain level of respect. We respect each other's opinion about parenting and our personal life, but also for work stuff . . . We really listen to each other. I would want that friendship in my life no matter what."
But Cindy admitted she is extremely independent and often has to force herself to lean on her husband.
She said: "For Rande, my husband, it was hard for him to get used to me not needing that from him. But there's still places in our relationship where I have to let him get that feeling. It's okay to lean on someone. I've had to learn to back down a little bit from that and to be okay, even if it's little things. I've had to slow down, let him open the door. That feels good to him, and then guess what? It feels good to me, too."

Leighton Meester had a crush on Adam Brody for years before they started dating.
The 'Of Mice and Men' star married the actor, 34, in a secret ceremony in February after meeting him on the set of their film 'The Oranges' in 2011, but fancied him long before shooting the movie and was initially "nervous" about working with him as a result.
A source told Us Weekly magazine: "She says she always had a crush on him. She was so nervous to work with him!"
The couple hate being apart when they're working and stay in constant contact.
The insider said: "They're crazy about staying in contact. He texts her the sweetest notes."
The former 'Gossip Girl' actress, 28, recently admitted she enjoyed teaming up with her husband again for their movie, 'Life Partners.'
She said: "I always want to work with people that I like and love and people that I'm friends with. It's nice to mix business with pleasure."
And she insisted she didn't mind seeing him kiss their co-star Gillian Jacobs for a scene.
She said: "I think, if anything, I think that they pulled it off really well.
"I think it's good to have that kind of history, and if that makes it awkward, it works because it's kind of awkward kissing people for the first time. But I think that it didn't look awkward, so I don't know. They look in love."

Brad Pitt has secured a restraining order against Vitalii Sediuk.
The 50-year-old star, who was allegedly hit in the face by the Ukrainian prankster while attending the Hollywood premiere of his fiancée Angelina Jolie's new movie, 'Maleficent,' last night (28.05.14), obtained a temporary emergency protection order today (29.05.14), forcing Sediuk to stay at least 500 feet away from him for the next five days.
The 25-year-old reporter, who was placed on probation for three years after trying to interrupt Adele's speech at the Grammy Awards in 2013, could also face criminal prosecution for attacking the actor and breaking his designer sunglasses.
A law enforcement source told gossip website TMZ.com that a file has been sent to the Los Angeles City Attorney.
Sediuk - who claims to work for 'Studio 1+1,' a website and channel in his native country - has become known for pranking celebrities on the red carpet.
Last week he attempted to put his head up 'Ugly Betty' actress America Ferrera's skirt at the Cannes premiere of 'How To Train Your Dragon 2'.
In January this year, he hugged Bradley Cooper around the waist, putting his face in the 'Hangover' star's crotch at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a month later, tried a similar move on Leonardo DiCaprio at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Sediuk was also involved in an angry encounter with Will Smith at the 'Men In Black 3' premiere, two years ago, after he tried to kiss the star on the lips.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West are ready to have another baby.
The couple, who already have 11-month-old daughter North West together, are reportedly planning to expand their family as soon as possible.
A source close to the newlyweds, who got married in Florence, Italy last Saturday (24.05.14), told PEOPLE magazine: "[They] both want more kids."
The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star embarked on a gruelling diet and fitness regime to regain her pre-pregnancy figure in time for their nuptials after giving birth to North last summer, but is looking forward to getting pregnant again.
The insider said: "Kanye would have already been trying for another, but Kim just wanted to get back to feeling like herself again first. But more kids are definitely in the plan."
The duo are currently enjoying a low-key honeymoon in Ireland, where they were spotted going to the cinema twice on Wednesday (28.05.14).
Sources close to Kim, who admitted she didn't enjoy her first pregnancy, recently revealed she was planning to get pregnant again on her honeymoon.
Last month, a friend said: "She wants to get pregnant right after the wedding."
The 33-year-old star previously said that North made her want to have "a million" children because she is the perfect baby.
She said: "I've always wanted about six [kids]. After having [North], I would have a million."

Nicole Kidman is very proud of her "hardworking" children with ex-husband Tom Cruise.
The 'Grace of Monaco' star, who also has daughters Sunday, five, and Faith, three, with husband Keith Urban, is delighted that her eldest daughter Isabella, 21, and son Connor, 19, have blossomed into "generous, kind" adults.
The 46-year-old actress told Australia's Women's Weekly magazine: "They are generous, kind and hardworking. And these are traits that I love to see in my children."
It was previously claimed that Connor and aspiring artist Isabella had a strained relationship with their mother because of their ties to the Church of Scientology and Nicole admitted a few years ago that they had stopped calling her "mom."
Speaking in 2007, she said: "My kids don't call me mommy, they don't even call me mom. They call me Nicole, which I hate and tell them off for it."
But DJ Connor insisted in March that he had a "solid" relationship with the actress.
He said: "I love my mum. I don't care what people say. I know that me and mum are solid. I love her a lot. My family means everything. Yeah, I love my music, but the family comes before everything else."