# Famous rock musicians who do not use alcohol or drugs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225 "2013-09-19T13:28:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/1 "2013-09-19T13:28:19Z")
(Yes, I \*know \*ethanol alcohol is a drug. But most people say “alcohol and drugs.” Get over it.) Seems rock-n-roll goes hand-in-hand with alcohol and drugs. The only two rock artists I can think of who (supposedly) have never partaken in these vices are **Frank Zappa** and **Ted Nugent**. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/2 "2013-09-19T13:31:20Z")
Lots of others; YMMV depending on your definition of “famous”. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/3 "2013-09-19T13:34:48Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The only two rock artists I can think of who (supposedly) have never partaken in these vices are **Frank Zappa** and **Ted Nugent**. And now that I think about it, \*\*Zappa \*\*was certainly addicted to nicotine. So a couple bonus points will be awarded if the artist didn’t even smoke. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/4 "2013-09-19T13:37:22Z")
IIRC Zappa was not opposed to alcohol, and had tried marijuana but didn’t care for it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/5 "2013-09-19T13:44:24Z")
Going a little off topic, but I’ve read that Jane Curtin was the only member of the original cast of _Saturday Night Live_ who wasn’t using drugs. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/6 "2013-09-19T13:50:23Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Lots of others; YMMV depending on your definition of “famous”. Is that supposed to be a link? What to? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/7 "2013-09-19T13:52:25Z")
“Never”? As in, they’ve never even once had a drink? Finding a list of folks who are teetotalers is gonna be a lot harder, IMO. Snowboarder Bo’s link doesn’t appear to have even a single person who qualifies, let alone lots of others. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/8 "2013-09-19T13:55:45Z")
Penn & Teller are rock n’ roll _magicians_ who eschew drugs and alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/9 "2013-09-19T14:03:24Z")
AFAIK, Gene Simmons of Kiss is, and always has been a completely sober dude, as hard as that might be to believe for people unfamiliar with his personality. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/10 "2013-09-19T14:04:59Z")
What about Bruce Dickenson? I don’t think he would endanger his pilot’s license. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/11 "2013-09-19T14:07:09Z")
Alice Cooper WAS a very heavy drinker and drug user, but says he’s been completely clean and sober for 30 years- PARTLY because he did some lengthy stays in rehab and partly because he replaced those addictions with another: golf. The way Alice puts is, he’s learned that he has a highly addictive personality, and that he’s inclined to go overboard and get unhealthily obsessed with whatever he gets into. He says he’s now as addicted to golf as he once was to booze and drugs, but figures that’s a good trade. At least now he’s addicted to something that gets him some fresh air and exercise instead of to something that could kill him. Beyond that… I can name many guys who say they’ve been 100% clean and sober for a long time, but none I can vouch have NEVER done drugs. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/12 "2013-09-19T14:13:35Z")
[Post-hoc cite for Gene Simmons (from 2012):](http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/09/gene-simmons-ive-never-been-drunk/) > [@](#): > > Simmons recently sat down with CNN and revealed that despite his larger-than-life stage persona, **he’s never been drunk or high in his life.** > > \ > > His aversion to drugs and alcohol was a personal decision he made out of respect for his mother, who survived a concentration camp during World War II. “Our entire family was killed off in the gas chambers of Nazi Germany. There is nothing that I would do ever to break my mother’s heart.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/13 "2013-09-19T14:22:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Going a little off topic, but I’ve read that Jane Curtin was the only member of the original cast of _Saturday Night Live_ who wasn’t using drugs. If I recall correctly, she was the only one who was married at the time, and she would be home with her husband while the others were out partying. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/14 "2013-09-19T14:32:07Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > What about Bruce Dickenson? I don’t think he would endanger his pilot’s license. He drinks, though I’m sure he stays well within the bounds of the pilot rules. He is even involved in the new Trooper beer Iron Maiden is brewing and I’ve seen him drinking it. I always understood that the band Iron Maiden drank, but not heavily. I don’t think they’ve been into drugs at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/15 "2013-09-19T14:45:01Z")
Adam Ant, according to his autobiography, never touched a drop of alcohol from his youth all through his pop star heyday (though subsequently he had a couple of drinking phases). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/16 "2013-09-19T14:57:22Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > IIRC Zappa was not opposed to alcohol, and had tried marijuana but didn’t care for it. True that Zappa did not completely abstain from alcohol, and according to Howard Kaylan’s recent [autobiography](http://www.amazon.com/Shell-Shocked-Turtles-Eddie-Frank/dp/1617808466), he even on rare occasions joined in when the band was sharing a joint. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/17 "2013-09-19T14:59:53Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Alice Cooper WAS a very heavy drinker and drug user, but says he’s been completely clean and sober for 30 years- PARTLY because he did some lengthy stays in rehab and partly because he replaced those addictions with another: golf. Ugh, drugs are cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/18 "2013-09-19T15:10:34Z")
Davey Havok, Ian MacKaye, and [many others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_that_follow_a_straight_edge_lifestyle). ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/19 "2013-09-19T15:47:07Z")
> [@OurLordPeace](#): > > Davey Havok, Ian MacKaye, and [many others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_that_follow_a_straight_edge_lifestyle). I was just coming in to see if Ian had been noted. Mr. Straight Edge himself. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225/20 "2013-09-19T15:59:43Z")
[Randy Bachman](http://www.examiner.com/article/randy-bachman-tells-how-he-managed-to-stay-clean-and-sober-the-music-business) is another one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-rock-musicians-who-do-not-use-alcohol-or-drugs/669225.md?page=2)