Throwback Thursday: John Taylor on Fame, Cocaine and the 14-Year-Old Boy Still Running the Show

Throwback Thursday: John Taylor on Fame, Cocaine and the 14-Year-Old Boy Still Running the Show

What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This throwback chat between writer and recovery advocate Anna David and Duran Duran bassist John Taylor offers a rare mix of rock-star glamour and brutally honest sobriety talk. Recorded years before Recovery Rocks, the conversation centres on John’s rise to global fame, his deepening relationship with alcohol and cocaine, and the emotional work of long-term recovery.

He talks about becoming a pop star while still sleeping in his tiny childhood bedroom, then realising that “for me, the alcohol and drugs… it was stronger than I was.” You’ll hear John reflect on writing his autobiography, grief over losing his parents, and how 12-step work pushed him into serious self-examination. He digs into blame, resentment and genetics, explaining how the idea of a “faulty gene” helped him stop pointing fingers at everyone else and start looking inward.

There’s plenty here for anyone questioning their own drinking or using. John shares how alcohol was the gateway to cocaine, how days off were often more dangerous than work days, and why he still has to recommit to sobriety daily. His description of being “a man in his late 50s that is wrestling with a 14-year-old boy continually” will hit home for anyone who feels emotionally stuck.

The chat ranges widely—from Catholic school confusion and faith, to the pressure of fame, to the comfort he finds in neutral, apolitical 12-step rooms that bring all kinds of people together. He also offers practical encouragement for trying a meeting: what have you really got to lose by giving up a couple of hours?

If you’re curious how someone can go from hotel-bar blowouts to decades of sobriety and genuine humility, this conversation might get you thinking about who’s really running the show inside you.