Madness frontman Suggs has opened up about his battle with alcoholism after recently quitting drinking following four decades in the spotlight.

Suggs, 64, whose real name is Graham McPherson, admitted that over the years his love of alcohol spiralled into a serious problem, so much so that he believes he is ‘lucky’ to be here to tell the tale. 

Now, a few months sober after taking advice from an addiction specialist, he has said his love of booze was ‘ruining his life’.  

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘I’ve been a bit sort of jocular about it, but no, it did get a bit serious.

‘I mean, it was alcoholism, and there’s no way in this horrible thing to admit to yourself, because I was a drunk.

‘I was a good drinker, I was a bad drinker.’ 

Madness frontman Suggs has opened up about his battle with alcoholism after recently quitting drinking following four decades in the spotlight

Suggs, 64, whose real name is Graham McPherson, admitted that over the years his love of alcohol spiralled into a serious problem

Revealing how bad his drinking got, Suggs said it became his reason for living, and prior to quitting, it was a point of concern for his family. 

The singer added: ‘When you’re drinking too much, it just becomes your sole raison d’etre.

‘And then my family started to suggest I was getting a bit…’

‘I went to see an addiction therapist, and he just said, “You’ve got to stop,’ basically.”

‘It’s just that thin line between drinking socially and drinking unsocially and, you know, kind of ruining your life, which is where I’m sort of headed.’

The hitmaker admitted that the ageing process also meant that he was unable to stomach alcohol as well as he could as a younger man.

He added: ‘It was physiology – you can’t cope with probably the amounts that I used to drink when I was younger anyway.

‘And the hangovers were…like two days sort of wiped out of your life.’

Suggs said drinking became his reason for living, and prior to quitting, it was a point of concern for his family

Suggs, who has recently gone sober, sH๏τ to fame with Madness in the late 1970s and has 17 top ten hits to his name

Read More Madness reveal their first impressions of frontman Suggs were ‘he’s alright’

While the singer, who rose to fame in the late 1970s, said his drinking did not become destructive in a physical sense, it socially took its toll. 

Suggs explained: ‘I didn’t really get into any really negative or destructive kind of elements of life.

‘But it’s just when the drink becomes more important than anybody or anything else, that’s what was happening.’

The singer also said alcoholism had a detrimental effect on his mental health.

He added: ‘If you don’t stop drinking, you will never find out what’s really going on in his conscious or subconscious.’

Sugg’s revelations come ahead of Madness’s upcoming world tour, which will be his first sober. 

He added: ‘I think at 63 and so many of my friends, without naming names, about my age in this industry, I mean, I could tell you loads, all packed up around being 60.

‘I’m lucky to tell the tale, really.’