25 years clean

How Robbie Williams got rid of alcohol

Robbie Williams: Don't even think about drinking anymore(Bild: AP/Photo by Matt Licari/Invision)

Singer Robbie Williams says he has been clean for almost a quarter of a century. How was he able to overcome drug addiction and alcoholism? He simply no longer thinks about it, he explained in a recent interview.

 "I don't see myself as a former alcoholic. I'm just Rob who doesn't drink," Williams told Stern. "I just don't even think about drinking anymore." However, he doesn't find it particularly difficult. "The difficulty is more about coping with life on your own terms without cutting out every now and then. You have to endure it," Williams continues. "When I take time out these days, it's by making art, drawing and being creative."

Entertainer university planned
In the future, for example, he wants to set up his own university for entertainers, which will also teach how to stay mentally healthy as an artist.

Nevertheless, he sometimes worries about his four children. "I fear that alcoholism and addictive behavior are a genetic problem that is passed on," says Williams. His mother used to work in a pub, his father also wanted to become famous as a singer and drank a lot of alcohol.

"Today I like Jesus again"
When asked by Stern whether he was religious, the Brit said: "No. But I think about it." And he explained: "I was brought up Catholic, but over time I became more and more of an atheist. Today I like Jesus again. I want to believe that there is a way to be Christian without being religious."

On January 2, the two-hour film "Better Man - The Robbie Williams Story" will be released in cinemas. In it, the musician is portrayed as a computer-generated monkey. It shows the beginnings of his career as a teenager with Take That, his falling out with the boy band, his alcohol addiction and, above all, his difficult relationship with his father.