The explosive drummer whose beats powered the glam anthems.
He lived the full-throttle lifestyle with the band. The health battles came later. Another reminder that the excess of the era left scars — even when addiction wasn’t the direct cause of the final chapter.
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Lived in LA: Yes — he relocated to the Los Angeles area (La Cañada Flintridge) with his family shortly after 1985 and lived there for decades.
Active in music: Yes — in 2008 he formed and led “Steve Priest’s Sweet” (an LA-based version of the band) and performed/toured the classic hits with new musicians until close to his death.
Public advocate for recovery: No strong evidence. He spoke about the band’s history, Brian Connolly’s struggles, and the rock lifestyle, but he was not known as a prominent public speaker or advocate for sobriety/recovery in the way some other rock musicians are.
Still active: No — Steve Priest passed away on June 4, 2020 at age 72.
The charismatic voice of “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox on the Run,” and “Teenage Rampage.”
Alcohol became the elephant in the room that no one could ignore. It took his voice, his health, and finally ended his time at only 51.
A raw, heartbreaking reminder: addiction can overcome even the biggest stars when it’s left unchallenged.
The RecoveryROCKS Perspective
This is exactly why these stories matter.
Not every member of The Sweet had the same outcome.
Brian’s battle with alcohol overcame him despite later attempts at sobriety.
Steve Priest appears to have made it through the glam rock storm without addiction completely destroying him — and he kept making music and living his life for decades afterward.
The glam rock era was flooded with temptation. Alcohol was (and still is) the most socially accepted “elephant in the room” in the music business. Some artists confront it early and overcome. Some wait too long. Some never confront it at all.
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The 1989 album In Step was SRV’s fourth and final studio album with Double Trouble. The title itself is a direct reference to his active participation in the 12-step recovery program. It was the first album he recorded completely sober.
"Wall of Denial"
Co-written with Doyle Bramhall (who was also in recovery), this track is a brutally honest look at the self-deception required to sustain an addiction. It acknowledges the heavy, invisible barrier that keeps a person separated from reality and the people who care about them, culminating in the breakthrough of accepting help and facing the truth.
"Tightrope"
Also co-written with Bramhall, this is the anthem of maintaining balance in sobriety. It describes the precarious walk between relapse and living clean. The lyrics detail the danger of his past ("Caught up in a whirlwind, can't catch my breath") and the active, daily focus required to stay "in step" and keep walking the tightrope without falling back into the abyss.
"Crossfire"
While the lyrics were primarily penned by his Double Trouble bandmates (Reese Wynans, Chris Layton, and Tommy Shannon) along with Bill Carter and Ruth Ellsworth, SRV's vocal delivery channels his own experience. It captures the sheer exhaustion of being overwhelmed by pressure and the chaotic environment of the music industry—the exact "crossfire" that had previously driven him to self-medicate.
"Riviera Paradise"
This sprawling, nearly nine-minute jazz-infused instrumental closes the album. Without a single lyric, the phrasing and tone convey a profound sense of peace, clarity, and spiritual awakening. It reflects a man who has finally gained control over his instrument and his life, finding serenity after the storm.
Part 2: • Axl Rose in court (Part 2/2)
Slash and Adler met their future Guns N' Roses bandmates when they placed an ad in The LA Times searching for a bassist for their band. Duff McKagan responded to the ad, and later worked with Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin in Hollywood Rose, who Slash had originally auditioned for, before merging with LA Guns (Rob Gardner, Tracii Guns and Ole Beich) to create Guns N' Roses.
The three joined Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin to create the most famous and "original" line-up of Guns N' Roses. Adler drummed on the first two GN'R albums: the multi-platinum Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies. Adler's work also appeared on one song on Use Your Illusion II, the opening track "Civil War", although his drum track is said to be heavily edited.[5]
In late 1987, while Guns N' Roses was on tour, an intoxicated Adler broke his hand when he punched a streetlight after a barroom brawl. Fred Coury from the band Cinderella substituted on drums for several shows until Adler recovered.[6] At the 1989 American Music Awards, where Guns N' Roses performed their latest single, "Patience," Nobody filled in for Adler on drums because no drums were planned for the song and it ended up being acoustic only song. Officially, the absence was attributed to a case of the flu; it was later revealed that Adler had actually been in a drug rehabilitation program at the time.
Problems continued in 1990, as the band recorded "Civil War" for Nobody's Child, an album benefiting the Romanian Angel Appeal. Axl Rose has said in interviews that "Civil War was recorded a good 60 times" due to problems with Adler[citation needed] ; Slash, in another article, stated that the band had to edit the drum track to "Civil War" simply to be able to play along with it.[5] By Adler's own admission, he tried to play the song "20, maybe 30 times."[3] During the recording of "Civil War" Adler was still trying to stop using drugs.[4]
Adler was briefly fired from the band, but was reinstated after signing a contract promising to stop using drugs.[7] In July 1990, he performed with Guns N' Roses at Farm Aid IV in Indiana. It would be his last appearance with the band. When problems in the studio continued, he was formally fired on July 11, 1990,[8][9] during the recording of the Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II albums, and replaced with Matt Sorum. The official reason for his departure, according to various members of the band, was his heavy substance abuse which impeded his ability to work. Geffen A&R rep Tom Zutaut, who worked with Guns N' Roses, corroborated this claim, stating in a 1999 interview, "Steven Adler would show up at the recording studio completely high. Recording sessions would abort for several days when he couldn't put it together."[10]
In October 1991, he filed a lawsuit against his former Guns N' Roses bandmates, claiming that they were responsible for his drug addiction and that the contracts he had signed actually took away his financial interest in the band.[11] In a 2005 interview he stated, "Doug Goldstein called me into the office about two weeks later. He wanted me to sign some contracts. I was told that every time I did heroin, the band would fine me $2,000. There was a whole stack of papers, with colored paper clips everywhere for my signatures. What these contracts actually said was that the band were paying me $2,000 to leave. They were taking my royalties, all my writing credits. They didn't like me anymore and just wanted me gone. That's why I filed the lawsuit - to get all those things back."[3][9]
Adler's lawsuit against his former Guns N' Roses bandmates was settled out of court in 1993. He received a back-payment check of $2,250,000 USD and was granted 15% of the royalties for everything he recorded prior to his departure.
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Ted Nugent artist spotlight
Ted Nugent the legendary guitarist known for hits like Stranglehold and Cat Scratch Fever battled heavy alcohol and drug use during the wild rock and roll years of the 1970s. He got clean and sober minded around 1982 and has now been completely clean and sober minded for over forty years. Ted has spoken openly about how sobriety gave him clarity focus and the ability to continue performing at the highest level. His story is living proof you can overcome before it overtakes you never ignoring the infamous elephant in the room alcohol and spirits.
