Depeche Mad
[The Daily Star, 10th April 1997. Words: Lee Harpin. Picture: Anton Corbijn.]
Depeche Mode idol Dave Gahan is storming back into the charts – after quitting a drug-crazed lifestyle that he admits should have cost him his life.
The 34-year-old singer, whose group shot into the Top Five this week with their latest single It’s No Good, became hooked on a cocktail of drugs including heroin and cocaine.
Less than a year ago, Dave’s heart stopped beating for two minutes following a huge binge in Los Angeles. He was eventually arrested for possessing drugs and spent two nights in the cells.
Dave says: “I was told by doctors that I should have been dead.
“I realised that all the drugs would have to stop. I got in contact with a rehabilitation centre, had a little party and decided that was the last time I’d ever take drugs.”
His hellraising lifestyle not only cost him his health – it wrecked his love life.
Back in 1991, he divorced his wife of five years, Joanne, after falling in love with Depeche Mode’s publicist, Teresa Conway. But following his overdose last year, Teresa decided she could no longer handle sharing her life with a junkie. [1]
The pair recently divorced, which Dave says was “pretty painful”.
But giving up drugs gave him the confidence to team up once more with his pals in Depeche Mode to make the group’s 12th LP, Ultra. It was recorded with the help of producer and ex-Bomb The Bass star Tim Simenon.
Dave says: “It’s definitely one of the best we’ve ever made.”
Fellow band members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore say many of the problems the group have had to face actually helped them, musically.
Andy admits: “Tough situations have brought out the best in us, although a lot of people didn’t expect us to come back at all.
“It’s great to prove so many of those people completely wrong!”
[The Daily Star, 10th April 1997. Words: Lee Harpin. Picture: Anton Corbijn.]
Depeche Mode idol Dave Gahan is storming back into the charts – after quitting a drug-crazed lifestyle that he admits should have cost him his life.
The 34-year-old singer, whose group shot into the Top Five this week with their latest single It’s No Good, became hooked on a cocktail of drugs including heroin and cocaine.
Less than a year ago, Dave’s heart stopped beating for two minutes following a huge binge in Los Angeles. He was eventually arrested for possessing drugs and spent two nights in the cells.
Dave says: “I was told by doctors that I should have been dead.
“I realised that all the drugs would have to stop. I got in contact with a rehabilitation centre, had a little party and decided that was the last time I’d ever take drugs.”
His hellraising lifestyle not only cost him his health – it wrecked his love life.
Back in 1991, he divorced his wife of five years, Joanne, after falling in love with Depeche Mode’s publicist, Teresa Conway. But following his overdose last year, Teresa decided she could no longer handle sharing her life with a junkie. [1]
The pair recently divorced, which Dave says was “pretty painful”.
But giving up drugs gave him the confidence to team up once more with his pals in Depeche Mode to make the group’s 12th LP, Ultra. It was recorded with the help of producer and ex-Bomb The Bass star Tim Simenon.
Dave says: “It’s definitely one of the best we’ve ever made.”
Fellow band members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore say many of the problems the group have had to face actually helped them, musically.
Andy admits: “Tough situations have brought out the best in us, although a lot of people didn’t expect us to come back at all.
“It’s great to prove so many of those people completely wrong!”