Mick Hucknall admits his "playboy" lifestyle almost made him lose "the plot" in the 90s, in a new interview with journalist Rob McGibbon.
Mick Hucknall
The Simply Red frontman - who has previously been romantically linked to a string of famous women, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ulrika Jonsson, Martine McCutcheon and Helena Christensen - says his hedonistic lifestyle caught up with him, and between 1996 and 1999, he felt "really unhappy" and came close to "burn out".
Speaking in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper, he recalled: "I was really unhappy from about 1996 to 1999.
"I don't know if I was depressed, but that was the worst time of my life since school. I
"I was really close to losing the plot and I just pulled myself back.
"I realised I couldn't go on like this, rolling out of nightclubs at 4am every morning, week on week, basically wandering around like a playboy. I would have burnt out."
The 59-year-old star says living a life of excess partying and drinking until the hours became "boring" and he needed to find a "more enriching" way to spend his time.
He added: "It's fun for a while, then it gets boring and is just emptiness, with no rewards.
"There is no substance to it.
"You are on a treadmill of excess -- of sex, drugs and rock 'n'roll. "For me, it was just basically a lot of alcohol.
"You either decide to stay on it and go out with a bang, or you decide to find something else that is more enriching."
Mick - who admitted to taking cocaine and heroin - has been happily married to his wife Gabriella Wesberry since 2010.
The pair had previously dated in the mid-90s, but went their separate ways for a few years, before they started dating again 2002, and Mick credits his "amazing" spouse with saving him from self-destructing.
He said: "A whole new world began.
"Instead of a destructive future, it became positive and productive, based on happiness."
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