FORMER Wet Wet Wet star Marti Pellow has spoken for the first time about his crippling addiction to heroin.
The star descended into drug abuse in the late nineties after years of drinking, and after the hugely successful group's last tour, he told them: ''I want to be alone on my smack.''
Now clean, he told the October edition of Q magazine he still missed the drug, but added: ''I certainly don't miss the pain.''
Pellow, who quit the band last year, said that his drinking reached its nadir around the release of the 1997 album 10. ''About that time I started losing my sanity messing about with heroin. When I first started using it was, where have you been all my life? Within a week it was everything to me - that's how powerful the drug was.''
Once known as a clean-cut singer noted for his chirpy smile, his days of addiction led him to get his back covered with tattoos and his nipples pierced. After receiving treatment at The Priory clinic in south London, Pellow opted to make a clean break. Earlier this year the star announced plans to return to performing live. He has also been recording a new album in Memphis, Tennessee.
Pellow said: ''I have abused my talent but through all this madness it has stayed with me.''
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