The legendary singer, who turns 70 this week, made the shocking confession in a previously unheard interview among recently discovered tapes.
Recorded in 1966 on board the music icon’s private plane and played for the first time on BBC Radio 4, the veteran told his journalist pal Robert Shelton,
"I kicked a heroin habit in New York City. I got very, very strung out for a while, I mean really, very strung out. And I kicked the habit. I had about a $25-a-day habit and I kicked it."
And revealing how being labelled a “genius” caused him to have suicidal thoughts, he added,
"Death to me is nothing. I could have easily gone over and done it.
“I'll admit to having this suicidal thing ... but I came through this time.
"I'm not the kind of cat that's going to cut off an ear if I can't do something. I'm the kind of cat that would just commit suicide. I'd shoot myself in the brain if things got bad. I'd jump from a window.”
Copyright : MTV CLASSIC
