Former Elbow drummer Richard Jupp on walking away from the band for sobriety and helping others: “Addiction is a disease and it’s terrifying”

Former Elbow drummer Richard Jupp has opened up about his decision to leave the band.

READ MORE: Elbow tell us about Manchester ‘Asleep In The Back’ 25th anniversary gigs and new music plans Jupp announced he’d be leaving Elbow in 2017, after 25 years with the band .

A statement at the time said he would be pursuing other projects, including work with his drum school and various charities.

Now, Jupp has spoken about his life since, as well as his decision to leave the band.

“From the outside, I had everything you’re supposed to want,” he said in a new interview with BBC News .

“I was travelling the world, making records and living a life I’d dreamed about since I was a kid.

We were at an extraordinary point in the band’s career.

“But I asked myself ‘What is any of that worth if I’m heading in a direction that was no longer working for me’?,” he continued.

Jupp went on to explain how drinking and drugs were normalised within the music industry.

“Less so now, but back in those days it was seen as some kind of rite of passage, it was normalised, and I did personally participate in that culture.

“I’ve witnessed within the industry, people who are still partaking – outside of the band – people who are still perpetuating that myth of rock’n’roll,” he added.

When he turned 40, he says, he decided to change his lifestyle and toured for a year with the band while sober before deciding to step down in 2016.

It was starting to get to a point where I could see that there was a problem,” he said.

“It felt detached,” he added, explaining that he has been sober ever since.