Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan has candidly spoken out about a secret breakdown and ‘making himself ill’ during his ‘shit 2016’.
After the band kicked off their world tour while they prepare to announce details of their new album, Meighan have an interview to Q Magazine about battling his demons over the last 12 months.
While guitarist Serge Pizzorno told NME that 2016 was one of ‘the best years of his life’, the death of a friend and splitting from his partner meant that Meighan had a very different experience.
“Basically my life changed. I’m by myself. Because I lost myself,” Meighan told Q.
He continued: “In every way, 2016 was great for Serge, great for Leicester City, shit for me.
“I had to sort my head out. My attitude. Stuff I was doing. People I was associating with. Not bad people. I was the one that was bad, I was in the haze. I was very unhappy, just down. You block it out by just carrying on.”
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Opening up about the impact of the death of a ‘great friend’, Meighan continued: “It was at the peak of my musical life. Sometimes life throws shit at you and I didn’t deal with it very well.
“I was making myself ill, I ain’t gonna lie, my mind was jolted. It might have been a build-up from years and years. I wasn’t taking responsibility and it affected everyone around me, horrendous.”
He added: “Recently I had a tragedy. A great friend died, couple of weeks ago. I ain’t gonna go into detail. I’m all right. But the old me would’ve gone crazy. I would’ve gone on one, and not thought about it.
“I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. It’s not fair.”
Meighan follows in the recent footsteps of artists like Stormzy and James Mercer in opening up about their battles with mental health and depression.
This August, the band will headline Reading & Leeds Festival alongside Muse and Eminem.