Lulu has opened up about her alcohol addiction for the first time, admitting she is now in recovery.
The 76-year-old famous Eurovision singer, renowned for her 1964 hit “Shout,” recently opened up about spending years in difficult times, dealing with ‘shame,’ and eventually leading to her stay in rehab.
In a candid conversation with The Times, she confessed, ‘I secretly consumed alcohol. I always aspired to be Miss Perfect, the “best Lulu,” and was petrified of becoming like my dad.
‘For a long time, I decided against discussing [my alcoholism] publicly. I waited until I could fully grasp and articulate it before speaking about it.
‘I’ve learnt a lot from other people, their memoirs, and self-help books too, so maybe I can be of some help now.’
She went on to say her alcoholism got worse as she got older and her son, Jordan Frieda, 48, left home.
Lulu has opened up about her alcohol addiction for the first time, admitting she is now in recovery (pictured in 2022)
The singer, known for “Shout” from 1964, shared that she endured years of ‘dark’ episodes and ‘shame,’ eventually leading to rehab (pictured in 2002).
She said: ‘For me, it had been controllable until I got into my sixties.
‘Post-menopause, after losing both parents, with an empty nest and surrounded by young talent in the music scene, my dependency escalated, worsening my situation.
‘For many years, and I can’t say how many, I had not been happy with the way I felt, not at all happy and [yet] unable to ask for help.’
Lulu also recounted traumatic experiences from her youth, witnessing domestic abuse involving her parents, including an incident where her father was forcefully taken by the police.
‘It’s a family illness,’ she said. ‘The gene is there.’
While she feared people perceiving her parents as ‘bad people’, she now says they were ‘damaged’, but she also ‘carried so much shame’ about their actions.
Lulu believes her alcoholism was ‘the culmination of a life spent trying to suppress feelings’, having always supported her family and had a professional image to uphold.
The singer went on to say that she has now ‘never been happier in life’.
In a new interview with The Times, she said: ‘I was a secret drinker. I think I always wanted to be Miss Perfect, the “best Lulu”, and I was terrified of being like my father’ (pictured in 2003)
Lulu then detailed some scarring moments from her upbringing, such as witnessing violent domestic abuse between her father and her mother ‘It’s a family illness,’ she said (L-R with her siblings actress Edwina Lawrie, Billy Lawrie, and Lulu in 1983)
![She said: ‘For many years, and I can’t say how many, I had not been happy with the way I felt, not at all happy and [yet] unable to ask for help' (pictured in June)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/09/05/16/101875417-15070009-image-a-69_1757084504289.jpg)
She said: ‘For many years, and I can’t say how many, I had not been happy with the way I felt, not at all happy and [yet] unable to ask for help’ (pictured in June)
She said: ‘The thing about drink is that you become the worst part of who you really are. You can be happy and singing and having fun, but that doesn’t last.
‘If you keep drinking, you can become morose. We can become angry. I worked so hard to understand this. I finally understood it’s an illness that messes with everything.
‘So I know it sounds perverse, but I’m glad I’m an alcoholic and that I’m in recovery.’
These days, Lulu, who has been married twice, firstly to Maurice Gibb from 1969 to 1973, then to John Frieda from 1977 to 1991, said she is living in a much ‘brighter’ world, residing in central London with her cockapoo.
She’s also determined to persist with her career ‘until [she] drops’.
