Liza Minnelli is looking back on her journey to sobriety.
The award-winning actress and singer has opened up about dealing with addiction and hitting rock bottom before making the life-changing decision to seek professional help. Her battles with drug abuse were a product of grief and association.
Through the years, Liza Minnelli has been vocal about her recovery journey from addiction, laced with determination amid relapse.
Minnelli pulled back the curtain on her days as a young adult, during which she was exposed to several vices. She admitted that she made certain choices she is not proud of, such as being “irresponsible with money,” as she achieved early success in the industry.
Most of her exposure to, use, and abuse of drugs was heavily due to the company of friends she kept. “In New York, I had surrounded myself with people who at worst encouraged me to use drugs,” she wrote in a lengthy caption attached to a picture of her younger self looking drawn and sweaty on a couch.
“Back in Manhattan, I had favorite bars where bartenders were happy to serve me any hour I showed up,” the phenomenal dancer continued. She added that she had boxes of pills and bottles of booze stashed away at her apartment.
The drugs she used made her feel numb yet untouchable, and she confessed that she often used them out of sight. “With no one watching, I self-medicated myself to foggy perfection, to a place where I felt nothing or no one could hurt me,” Mannelli noted in the Instagram post.
Things Changed For The Singer After She Moved To Los Angeles
Upon her initial move to L.A., the Emmy winner shared that she felt lost in the same “fog” before she felt the urge to seek professional help. She recalled that she checked herself into rehab as quickly as possible because she was out of options.
The “Cabaret” star added that, just like she penned in her memoir “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!,” she was “f–king scared to death” ahead of checking into the Los Angeles Betty Ford Center.
Minnelli went on to acknowledge her amazing support system, tagging them in the caption and praising them for their contributions to her recovery journey. She thanked her sister, Lorna Luft, who bribed her with a hot dog before she got on Frank Sinatra’s private jet for the first rehab visit.
Friends that had become like family, Michael Feinstein, Terrence Flannery, and Dr. Lawrence D. Piro, she stated, were part of the singer’s support quartet that saved her life.
Liza Minnelli Penned Her ‘Life And Death’ Struggle With Addiction
In her memoir, which hit the shelves on March 10, the actress detailed how her exposure to drugs began after taking care of her mother, Judy Garland. She described it as a “nightmare” situation where she had to carry the heavy weight of being her mother’s caregiver, nurse, pharmacist, and many more.
After Garland’s passing in 1969 from an accidental overdose, the dancer was prescribed her first Valium to deal with the devastating loss and grief while she shouldered the burden of taking care of her younger siblings, Lorna and Joey, who were teenagers at the time.
Minnelli told PEOPLE that her rise to fame came at a cost. In the search for fun, she moved on from Valium and got influenced by people who were using other drugs such as Amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates, etc.
“I was looking for something else that would make it more fun, that would make it better, and somebody said, ‘Try this.’ So I tried it, and everybody else around me was doing everything,” the singer explained.
With time, the singer became hooked on OxyContin and developed substance abuse disorder, which she claims she inherited from her mother.
The ‘Cabaret’ Star Relapsed Again In Her 60s
One fact Minnelli did not keep under the covers was that her recovery was not smooth. She admitted that she fell off the program amid achieving success, but it did not deter her from her goal of getting and staying clean.
“If I fell off the program … I’d go right back in and fight again. Don’t give up,” she said, encouraging others who may, like her, also find the journey to recovery a bumpy road.
In 2015, her rep, Scott Gorenstein, announced that she had checked into rehab yet again for an unspecified substance abuse issue. Minnelli, who was 69 at the time, was reported to be making excellent progress at the facility.
ABC News reported that Gorenstein, in his statement, highlighted that the singer has always sought help whenever the need arose amid her valiant battle with substance abuse for decades.
Liza Minnelli Says The Sobriety Journey Never Ends
The award-winning entertainer has been in and out of rehab facilities over the years. However, her most publicized entry was in 2004 after she became dependent on pain medication following a back surgery.
She told AARP earlier this year that she has not “beaten” addiction but has tried to keep it at bay. “I haven’t ‘beaten’ addiction. Nobody does if it’s in the blood. It can flare up without warning if you’re not vigilant,” Minnelli said, noting that she is taking her path one day at a time.
The actress seemingly still indulges in smoking based on a picture she shared where she posed with a lit cigarette in her hand. Her story has been an inspiration to many fans who resonated with her addiction battle on a personal level. Several fans praised Minnelli for her dedication to sobriety despite her age, while others noted that they had gone through similar paths.
You’ve got this, Liza Minnelli!