Rocker Tommy Lee reflected back on the height of his alcoholism and admitted he was drinking two gallons of liquor a day.
The Mötley Crüe drummer expounded on his love-hate relationship with drinking on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, and declared "Alcohol’s such a f'king weird one.”
Lee continued:
“It’s easy to fall in love with, the way it makes you feel, the way it makes you relax, and then all of a sudden you’re, like, ‘F'k! I’m drinking two gallons of vodka a day?’ You’re trying to kill yourself now.”
“Your liver is on crutches at that point; it’s just barely functioning."
Maher was dumbfounded by Lee's admission of having imbibed "two gallons" of vodka per day, and asked for clarification:
"Eight bottles of liquor? Are you sure? For how long?"
Lee responded:
"For a long time."
To which a stupefied Maher commented, "Your liver must be made of asbestos."
"I pinch myself on a daily basis," said Lee about being able to survive to tell his story.
The 61-year-old rocker, along with his metal band peers, has had a history of substance and alcohol abuse during the 1980s.
But lately, he is in a better place.
Lee said he was recently amazed by his clean bill of health and thought the results were from another patient.
Lee recalled:
“I just did the full body scan, where they do head-to-toe everything, and I can’t believe―smoking, drinking, all the f'king dumb sh*t, or the fun sh*t that I’ve done."
“Dude, the doctor was, like, ‘You’re good.’ And I was, like, ‘Are you sure you have the...?"
"Let me see. Is that my name on there, or is there some Japanese guy in here that you have his results that you’re reading from?’ Because I find that f'king impossible."
"This is impossible.”
Fans weighed in in response to his eye-opening statements.
Incredulous fans thought it wasn't possible to consume that much liquor and live to tell their stories.
In October 2020, which marked a year of Lee's sobriety at the time, he opened up about his drinking in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment.
He explained that during an idle period after the last Crüe tour, he drank "just out of boredom."
"I had all this time at home, not touring, just being at home. I did what I told you."
"I just enjoyed being home. I literally did nothing. I would just float around drink and just f'king drink.”
“I didn't notice it until towards the end of it, when I was like, ‘Oh dude, I’ve got to stop."
“I would just wake up and be just building, just all vodka and just a little eyedropper of cranberry or lemonade."
"I was drinking two gallons—not pints, not quarts, but gallons, the big-handles.”
