Scottish singer Lulu, one of Britain’s most enduring pop icons, has revealed for the first time that she struggled with alcoholism in her sixties, describing herself as a “secret drinker” whose dependence on wine threatened her six-decade reputation for being “squeaky clean.”
The confession comes ahead of the release of her forthcoming memoir If Only You Knew, in which the 76-year-old star recounts her hidden addiction, the trauma of her childhood, and the resilience that carried her through both professional triumphs and personal struggles. Lulu, best known for hits such as Shout and To Sir, With Love, admitted she hid her drinking even from close friends who were themselves in recovery. “When I finally told them, they said, ‘How did we miss that?’” she recalled.
Her dependence on alcohol, she explained, took hold after she entered menopause, lost both her parents, and faced an “empty nest” as her son Jordan built his own life. Although she had checked into rehab once before in the 1990s, during the breakdown of her marriage to hairdresser John Frieda, this time the focus was on alcohol and the unresolved pain of a childhood shaped by domestic violence. Therapists in Arizona diagnosed her with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, linked to years of witnessing abuse at home in Glasgow.
Lulu’s account challenges the glamorous image of a star who, from her teens, performed alongside the Beatles, married Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, collaborated with David Bowie, and later reinvented herself with Take That on the 1993 chart-topper Relight My Fire. “Lulu is sort of squeaky clean,” she said. “It’s not that I’m a bad girl. I’m not. But I think I always wanted to be Miss Perfect — and I was terrified of being like my father.”
Now in recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous, she says she has never been happier or more in touch with her emotions. “The thing about drink is that you become the worst part of who you really are,” she reflected. “I finally understood it’s an illness that messes with everything. So I know it sounds perverse, but I’m glad I’m an alcoholic — and that I’m in recovery.”
Her new memoir does not shy away from regrets, including the guilt she carried over her parents’ violence, her doubts about her musical direction, and her sense of inadequacy as a mother. Yet it also highlights her resilience. Lulu has continued to perform for new generations, appearing at Glastonbury in recent summers, most recently alongside Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. “I’ve never wanted to be stuck. I want to grow,” she said.
Today, Lulu lives in London, attending AA meetings, spending time with her grandchildren, and preparing to tour in support of her book. For her, honesty is now as important as music. “If I was going to write a proper memoir, I had to be honest,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of tough moments. And alcohol came up and bit me on the nose. But if there is one characteristic I now realise I have, it is resilience. I think music saved my life.”
