Four-time ARIA Award winner Alex Lloyd is set to break his long silence, opening up about the personal struggles that derailed his career for more than a decade.
In an exclusive interview for “Australian Story“, the singer-songwriter behind the 2001 hit “Amazing” speaks candidly about overcoming a five-year addiction to prescription drugs, which followed a period of depression, alcohol abuse, and chronic pain.
“I had no idea what I was getting into with that drug,” Lloyd says in the program.
The downward spiral began in 2009, when Lloyd was accused in court of stealing Amazing. Despite four hit albums and critical acclaim, he and his legal team had to comb through years of past work to defend the claim. “That court case made me go back to a place I didn’t want to go back to. ’Cause I was the happiest guy on the planet before that,” he recalls.
The case was dropped mid-trial and Lloyd was awarded costs, but the process triggered long-buried childhood trauma, cost him his marriage, and robbed him of the motivation to write music. His neck pain led to reliance on a prescription drug, deepening his struggles.
Through the support of his four children and a new creative partnership, Lloyd slowly reconnected with music. “People saw the worst side of me, but I had the music I was performing and that saved my arse,” he says. Now almost three years clean and aged 50, he is preparing to release his first collection of new music in 12 years.
“Australian Story” has a long history of profiling prominent Australian musicians, including Nick Cave, Cold Chisel, Bon Scott, and members of Silverchair and Parkway Drive. The program also covers a wide range of Australians with remarkable stories, from cricket commentator Bharat Sundaresan to Jim Rogers, who is living with younger-onset Alzheimer’s.
“Australian Story” airs Monday, August 18th at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview. The episode, “Dark Star – Alex Lloyd”, offers an exclusive look at the musician’s life and career.