BELINDA CARLISLE ‘I’M SURPRISED I’M NOT DEAD!’
AFTER OVERCOMING SERIOUS ADDICTION, THE SINGER IS NOW LIVING HER BEST LIFE
Since bursting onto the global music scene in 1978 as the frontwoman of trailblazing girl group, The Go-go’s, Belinda Carlisle has become a bona fide chart-topper.
But amid the crazy highs and adoration, Belinda was battling a severe addiction to booze and cocaine that would span almost 30 years.
“I can’t believe I’m not dead,” the 62-year-old tells New Idea exclusively. “I had a vision of myself being found dead in that hotel room of a cocaine overdose. I just knew I couldn’t continue the life that I was living.”
A master of reinvention, Belinda has managed to ride the storm and survive many career peaks and troughs. Despite her past successes, she lives her life very much in the present.
“I’m not nostalgic at all!” laughs the star. “I went through my storage and there was this huge box of press coverage and I said: ‘Let’s just get rid of it. I’m not going to sit and read all about it and fantasise about going back.’”
But going back she is, at least to her old hits, when she returns to Australia for her new Decades tour, which kicks off next year.
While Belinda is now well into her seventh decade, her appetite for adventure hasn’t dimmed.
“For me, age is just a state of mind,” she says. “I’m not a stereotypical 62-year-old, that’s for sure, and nor do I intend to be.”
Indeed, Belinda has clearly found her very own ‘heaven on earth’. And now, more than four decades on from her stage debut, she has nothing left to prove.
“I’m at an age where I can pretty much do what
I want,” she says, candidly. “I’m really happy and comfortable where I am. I love my life and I feel free – it’s great!”
• Belinda returns for an Australian tour from February 2022. For booking information, visit abstract.net.au