Rock Recovery

MR. NICE GUYS - Alice Cooper and Joe Norelli

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 08:31:11 -0700

We sat down with two true rock stars and the nicest guys you’ll ever meet - Alice Cooper and Joe Norelli - truly two legends, not only in their careers, but in giving back to make a difference in so many people's lives through the healing power of music and the arts.

Darryl “DMC” McDaniels – WALK THIS WAY

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 10:23:53 -0700

Darryl “DMC” McDaniels is a founder and member of RUN DMC - an American hip-hop group formed in 1983, Along with Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, and Public Enemy, RUN DMC pioneered new-school hip-hop music and helped usher in the golden age hip-hop.

Darryl is now actively involved in various projects, including mental health advocacy, his Darryl Makes Cookies brand, and Darryl Makes Comics. He is also a dedicated philanthropist and co-founder of The Felix Organization focusing on adoption and foster care.

He discusses his struggles with mental health and suicidal thoughts, particularly after the death of Jam Master Jay. He currently partners with organizations like 1 Million Strong to promote mental health support and recovery from substance abuse and co-authored "Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide".

Jim Sonefeld - HOLD MY HAND

Tue, 20 May 2025 15:21:20 -0700

Jim Sonefeld is the drummer and songwriter for Hootie and the Blowfish, and the author of "Swimming with the Blowfish: Hootie, Healing, and One Hell of a Ride." The first single, “Hold My Hand,” a tune Sonefeld brought to the band early on, helped thrust Hootie & the Blowfish into its great success, and likewise showcases his songwriting ability. In the years to follow, the band would record six more studio albums and receive numerous awards, among them, two GRAMMYS®.

For a time, there was no bigger band in the world than Hootie & the Blowfish—Jim reveals the inside story of the band's humble beginnings, meteoric rise, sudden fall, and ultimate rebirth—and in the telling he opens his heart to readers about addiction, recovery, and faith. Jim opens up about his faith and how he found God amid an intense struggle with stardom, alcoholism, and drug addiction.

Billy Rowe - RECOVERY RELICS

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:11:40 -0700

Billy Rowe formed his first band, Jetboy, in San Francisco not too long after getting out of high school, and he hasn’t looked back since. By the mid ‘80s, Jetboy had relocated to Los Angeles and were at the forefront of the second wave of Sunset Strip bands – among them Guns N’ Roses, Poison, L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat – taking the scene by storm, and within a few years they had signed to major label Elektra Records and released their debut album, Feel the Shake.

After Jetboy disbanded Rowe soon found a new calling – building guitars. In the 2000s, he started Rock N Roll Relics, and has today grown it into one of the most respected boutique builders in the industry. Among the list of musicians playing Billy’s instruments include Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Paul Stanley, Keith Urban, Tracii Guns from L.A. Guns, the legendary Glen Campbell, and one of our favorites here on Rock Recovery – Ryan Roxie with Alice Cooper.

Billy shares his personal story of loss and redemption and how he turned his life around through finding a new passion.

Dean Delray - LET THERE BE RECOVERY

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:33:41 -0700

Dean Delray is a man of many talents who turned his passion for music and comedy into a labor of love with a now thriving career on stage and a growing podcast network. Dean’s podcast, Let There Be Talk, features a who’s who of guests from the world of music, including AC/DC, KISS's Paul Stanley, John Mayer, Nancy Wilson, Rob Halford and many more. When he’s not chatting up rockstars he is bringing laughter to thousands at his next stand up comedy gig, having performed almost 5,000 times over the past 12 years.

But as with every journey, there were many roadblocks – years ago Dean was being evicted from his apartment, was diagnosed with diabetes, and survived a horrific motorcycle accident.

Jim Adkins – PAIN

Tue, 23 May 2023 12:32:35 -0700

Jim Adkins – musician, songwriter, and leader guitarist for Jimmy Eat World who are celebrating three decades and 10 albums. The Mesa, AZ, band’s commercial breakthrough came with the release of several singles from their album Bleed American, with “The Middle” hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and peaking at No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 33 weeks total and became RIAA-certified Platinum. Futures, their follow-up to BA, featured “Pain,” which also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. In October 2019, the band released their tenth album, the critically acclaimed Surviving. Jim shares his personal story of addiction and recovery and how he overcame the pain.

Wes Geer – ROCK TO RECOVERY

Fri, 05 May 2023 14:02:39 -0700

Wes Geer first found success as the founding member of Jive Records artist Hed P.E. as guitarist, songwriter and producer. After touring the world for eight years, he left the band, and landed in rehab. Three years later, now sober, he joined Korn as their touring guitarist, traveling to 42 countries, headlining shows, playing to crowds of 80,000 people, and appearing on a number of recordings and cable and TV shows. His music has been featured in many feature films, video games, radio, and television shows, and he also taught recording arts, drums, and guitar at The Fusion Academy’s Huntington Beach campus.

Wes soon discovered that strumming the guitar was the only thing that would bring him peace. And through his recovery he also discovered music was a critical piece missing from the treatment curriculum. It then became his dream to create a music program that could help all those in need.

Bobby Jensen – ROCKSTAR BOB

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 20:25:18 -0700

Truly renowned as a man of a thousand faces in rock, with three decades of experience as a master in rockstar impersonation, Bobby Jensen – aka “Rockstar Bob” -- has performed with Gene Simmons of KISS, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Alice Cooper and many more. Bobby was the lead singer for nearly 20 years with Hairball, best known for its fully-costumed, theatrical performances across the nation covering legendary rock bands such as Van Halen, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Queen, Bon Jovi Aerosmith and Alice Cooper. But perhaps what makes Bobby’s story even more real is how he overcame his addiction and how he pays it forward through his talent and passion for music and his rock and roll heroes.

Slash - SURVIVING AN APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 09:08:23 -0700

A 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the greatest guitar players of all time, Slash is internationally famous as the lead guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, “the most dangerous band in the world,” as well as a co-founder of Velvet Revolver and an accomplished solo artist.

In an industry known for excess, Guns n’ Roses seemed determined to set a new standard. And Slash admits that he overdosed and flatlined at least three times that he knows of. In 2001, at the age of only 35, he was diagnosed with a form of congestive heart failure known as cardiomyopathy and had to have a defibrillator implanted to protect against sudden cardiac death. Years of drinking had swollen his heart to the point of bursting. It reached the point where the doctors gave him between six days and six weeks to live.

Slash wrote about his battle with the bottle in his superb 2007 autobiography "Slash,” admitting he knew that he needed to change his path if he wanted to go on living. Early in the morning of July 3, 2006, he checked into rehab and fully surrendered…and he’s been sober, and healthier, ever since.

Johnny Griparic - UNCHAINED RECOVERY

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 10:07:40 -0700

Johnny Griparic is no stranger to the art of backing up legendary artists. He has righteously acquired the title of “de-lux” sideman by providing his straight forward no nonsense rock solid thunderous grooves for the who’s who in the music business, including Slash, Walter Trout, Ace Frehley, Don Felder and Richie Sambora to name just a few. But with success came parties, hangovers and blackouts, and Johnny knew he had to change or die. Thanks to true friends and the help of MusiCares, he overcame addiction and freed himself from the grips of drugs and alcohol and continues to pay it forward with his passion project Unchained Brands.

Brian Head Welch - LOVE, DEATH, METH AND HEAD

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 05:59:18 -0700

World-renowned guitarist and founding member of Korn and metal Christian band Love and Death, Brian Head Welch, also known by his stage name Head, shares his powerful testimony of meth and recovery.

But success had a price. Welch become addicted to meth and alcohol. According to Welch, the band members also suffered personal battles with addiction: "We were only sober for just a couple of hours a day in Korn. Every day. And then when you come home and you've got to deal with real life and your wife isn't having that, crap goes down.”

After becoming a Christian, he left the band in to focus on life as a father and to pursue his own solo career and has since rejoined KORN to worldwide acclaim. He also released his debut Christian album, Save Me from Myself, and is ranked at No. 26 of Guitar World's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time.

Mark Kendall - ONCE BITTEN BY THE HAIR OF THE DOG

Fri, 13 May 2022 06:34:47 -0700

Mark Kendall is the co-founder and lead guitarist of the legendary band, Great White. He is acknowledged as one of rock’s greatest guitarists and is the co-creator of the platinum-selling albums “Once Bitten” and “Twice Shy.”

But through all the accolades and success that the band acquired, Kendall found himself in the grips of addiction, and as he explains, “I think a trigger for a substance abuse is being on the road and everyone telling you you’re so great and you kind of just don’t want to take it as serious. It can drive you crazy, and it can cause some people to numb themselves.” In 1991 Mark found himself doing just that.

After selling millions of records over the course of a star-studded forty-plus year career, Mark recently tweeted he has had more than 13 years of continuous sobriety and that LIFE IS GOOD.

Rob Halford - REBIRTH OF A METAL GOD

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 06:52:41 -0700

There are many iconic and memorable figures in heavy metal but there is only ONE Rock God. In a career spanning over fifty years, Rob Halford has forged an everlasting presence in the hearts and minds of millions of fans as the True God of Metal. As the front man for the legendary heavy metal band, Judas Priest, and as the writer and performer of some of the greatest songs of all time, Rob is the ultimate definition of the genre itself and one of the most influential musicians and artists in the history of music.

In January, Rob quietly celebrated his 36th year of sobriety and reflects on the journey that never ends…”I think about it all the time,” he said about drinking alcohol. “It’s an addiction.”

Alice and Sheryl Cooper - SHOCK ROCK RECOVERY

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 10:32:52 -0700

Join host Jane Gordon as she interviews one of rock’s true legends, shock rocker Alice Cooper and his wife and spiritual partner for more than 40 years Sheryl Cooper. Successful survivors of over five decades of rock and roll madness at its absolute zenith, the Coopers provide the lessons of how they conquered addiction and continue to pay it forward.

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