Belinda Carlisle, the 59-year-old singer best known for her solo hits and as the frontwoman of The Go-Go's, has spoken candidly about her past cocaine addiction and her new album, Wilder Shores. In an interview with the BBC, Carlisle revealed that she finally got clean in 2005 after hearing a voice telling her: 'You are going to be found dead in a hotel if you don't stop.'
Carlisle, who now lives in Brighton, described her severe habit, which even shocked fellow party animal Rod Stewart. Stewart wrote in his autobiography that Carlisle 'could snort the lacquer off a table'. The singer's new album is built around Kundalini yoga chants that helped her recovery.
Reflecting on her early days with The Go-Go's, Carlisle recalled supporting Madness on tour in the late 1970s. 'We were just five girls from Southern California, so it was really scary,' she said, describing how skinheads would spit on the band. 'There were a lot of tears. But overall, even though we had no money and were covered in spit, we still had a good time.'
The Go-Go's remain the only all-female band to have written and played a number one album in the US, with Beauty and the Beat. Carlisle expressed surprise that no other group has replicated their success, attributing it to a lack of authenticity in modern music. 'Something like The Go-Go's could never happen now,' she said. 'It was too authentic.'
Carlisle also discussed her solo work, including the 30th anniversary of her album Heaven on Earth. She admitted that her 1996 album A Woman and a Man was created during a period of personal turmoil, but highlighted the highlight of having Brian Wilson sing on the track 'California'.
