Frankie Grande thought his life might ‘end’ before he found sobriety
Frankie Grande (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Frankie Grande (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Frankie Grande has spoken about how he thought his life would “end” prior to getting sober.
Ahead of the release of his debut album, Hotel Rock Bottom, the star told PinkNews that his desire for sobriety started after the One Love Manchester concert in 2017, which followed the bomb attack on his sister Ariana Grande’s concert in the city two weeks earlier. Twenty-two people died – the youngest an eight-year-old girl – and more than 1,000 others were injured.
The “Boys” singer said that after the One Love concert he convinced his family he needed to stay in London to heal. “I was like, I’m gonna stay in London, [that’s] what I really need.”
He thought seeing Harry Potter and The Cursed Child would “change my life”, and make him feel happy. His family backed his decision.
@pinknews Ahead of the release of his debut album ‘Hotel Rock Bottom’, PinkNews caught up with the one and only @FrankieJGrande ♬ original sound – PinkNews 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
“I did make it to part one of Harry Potter,” Grande continued. “Then I went to The Box, and that night just never ended.” He partied for four days.
“I just didn’t stop. I kept extending my trip and being like, ‘No, I need to stay, I need to stay’.”
But one of his best friends who, as a travel agent, was helping him rebook flights, express concern. “She was like: ‘This is the fourth time I’ve changed your flight, what the f*** is going on?'”
That was the moment he realised things had to change.
“I was like: ‘Don’t change it. I’ll leave. I’ll get out of this hotel room’,” he said. “I didn’t think I was gonna make it out of that hotel room, to be honest. I thought I was just gonna stay there for the rest of my life, which was probably gonna end soon.
“I got on that plane, I went straight to rehab, and now I’m eight years clean and sober, and was able to put this piece of art [the album] into the world. I would never have said that that was going to be my future if you had asked me when I was in that hotel room.”
The experience lent itself to the naming of the album.
Earlier this week, Grande announced that his sister would be joining him on a remix of the album’s title song. It will be available from Friday (11 July) on a deluxe version of the record.
In response, Ariana wrote on her Instagram story: “Love you so [Frankie]. I’m so proud of you and grateful to be part of this deluxe.”
Hotel Rock Bottom is out now.
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