Gary Lightbody, the frontman of Snow Patrol, admits to suffering from depression. He has also battled alcohol and drug addiction for years.
Prior to the release of Snow Patrol's Wildness album, the 41-year-old musician said that he has also been suffering from anxiety since he was a teenager. The Northern Ireland native said that there was a time in his life when he just did not want to exist. This thought is one of the things that triggered his depression.
Two years ago, Lightbody experienced a health scare that encouraged him to change his life. After suffering from a massive sinus infection, as well as eye and ear infections, the singer decided to give up drinking and taking drugs. He has been sober ever since.
However, despite his best efforts to keep his health in check, Lightbody admitted that his bigger struggle was to keep his mind healthy. At one point, he even had suicidal thoughts.
"Yeah, I thought about not existing. I just felt really, really sluggish... my will to live had kinda ebbed away," said Lightbody.
Luckily for the singer, he has friends and family who got his back while he faced his struggles.
Gary Lightbody Talks About 'Wildness'
Meanwhile, the singer also described Wildness as a hopeful record. The compilation will be released sometime next month.
"I am sober now for two years and I am able to speak about it with clarity and with hope. These things are not just sort of open-ended in a way where they feel like a lost cause, I am actually talking about these things in a way that I have tried to deal with them positively and hopefully, people will hear that in the record," said Lightbody.
Track List And Music Video
The songs included in Wildness are "Life on Earth," "Don't Give In," "Heal Me," "Empress," "A Dark Switch," "What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get?" "A Youth Written In Fire," "Soon," "Wild Horses," "Life and Death," "Life On Earth (Alternate Version)," "Don't Give In (Alternate Version)," "Heal Me (Alternate Version)," and more.
Last month, Snow Patrol dropped the official music video for "Don't Give In." The four-minute clip features all the members of the Northern Irish rock band.
Lightbody sings the lines to the song with so much emotion. He also moves to the beat of the track while inside a darkened room.
