What does it mean to be sober? Traditionally, we would think that would mean abstaining from drugs and alcohol, as in never drinking or doing drugs again. Now, rock star Billy Idol has coined a new term. He says he’s “California sober.”
What does “California sober” mean? To Idol, it means drinking wine “on occasion.” Considering one thing California is known for is wine country, such as in the Napa valley and in Santa Barbara, we see how he came up with that term.
Idol told PEOPLE that after a motorcycle accident in 1990, he decided “not be a drug addict anymore.”
Thinking back to the incident that almost resulted in Idol losing his leg, the rocker said, “I really started to think I should try and go forward and not be a drug addict anymore and stuff like that.” He added, “It took a long time, but gradually I did achieve some sort of discipline where I’m not really the same kind of guy I was in the ’80s. I’m not the same drug addicted person.”
Then Idol compared his thought process to what Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) would tell him. He said, “I mean, AA would say, ‘You’re always a drug addict.’ And that may be true, but I don’t do anything that much anymore. I got over it somehow. I wasreally lucky that I could get over it because a lot of people can’t.”
While he’s living a drug free lifestyle, that doesn’t include alcohol, especially wine. Idol shared, “I can have a glass of wine every now and again.” He added, “I don’t have to do nothing. But at the same time, I’m not the drug addict that I was in the peak ’70s, ’80s.”
Idol considers his type of sober to be “California sober.” He explained, “I’m, I suppose, ‘California sober.’ I just tell myself I can do what I want, but then I don’t do it. If I tell myself I can’t do anything, I want to do it. So I tell myself, ‘You can do anything you like.’ But I don’t actually do it.”
Idol also knows that some people really truly need to abstain from drugs and alcohol including wine. He thinks he’s “really lucky” that the occasional glass of wine works for him.
Watch the video below to learn more about what Idol has been up to recently. Besides drinking wine, he has been celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the album “Rebel Yell.”