Vodka-making Dan Aykroyd’s booze ‘luck’: ‘I can consume alcohol moderately and I don’t abuse it!’

22 July 2023

Dan Aykroyd says he’s “lucky” he doesn’t “abuse” alcohol.

Dan Aykroyd says he’s ‘lucky’ he doesn’t ‘abuse’ alcohol

‘The Blues Brothers’ actor, 71, is a co-founder of the Crystal Head vodka brand, which comes in skull-shaped bottles, but warned boozing should be done in moderation.

Dan – who lost his best friend and ‘The Blues Brothers’ co-star John Belushi to a drugs overdose in 1982 aged 33 after years of drink and drugs abuse – told the Daily Mail: “I’m lucky, I can consume alcohol moderately and I don’t abuse it – the simile I use is, just because you have a Ducati motorcycle that goes 250mph it doesn’t mean you take it on the highway and do that.”

He added he loves tame drinking sessions with his 72-year-old ‘Ghostbusters’ co-star Bill Murray.

He said: “One of my favourite nights is with Bill Murray. On a Friday, just before everyone heads home from a set, he invites people to his trailer where he has a full bar and he makes everyone a cocktail or serves wine.

“Those sessions can go on for two or three hours and then everyone just goes home.”

Dan, who has an estimated £200 million fortune, also runs the House of Blues clubs and part-owns a company that imports tequila to Canada.

He said he recently indulged in his love of moderate drinking while in the UK to film the movie follow-up to ‘Ghostbusters’ sequel ‘Afterlife’.

Dan added: “I went to Yorkshire… that’s where my people come from, with Tabitha Aykroyd, the Brontës’ housekeeper, being a forebear of mine.

“I love it here. Particularly the pubs. Whenever I can I go to a country pub and have steak and kidney pie or a shepherd’s pie with a nice half pint.”

But he said about watching his diet as he ages: “I know I’m getting older. I drive slower now. I don’t push the late nights.

“I watch the consumption of things I love, sweets and alcohol. Mostly I’m grateful – for the people I’ve worked with, the people who have supported me. “I’m in a good, happy place. I could drop more weight, but I keep dancing because it’s such a big part of extending life.”