Dark side of 90s pop from crack addiction to boozy brawls and sex for money revealed

Scottish Sun

a day ago

One star ended up smoking crack in a skip with a homeless woman
when the lights go out
when the lights go out Dark side of 90s pop from crack addiction to boozy brawls and sex for money revealed
THE 90s may have been the decade that brought us Brit pop, but it was also the time when pop music had a huge resurgence.
After the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-led assault on the charts in the mid to late 80s, pop music fell to the wayside somewhat in the early part of the next decade.
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The 90s saw a resurgence of pop music
Credit: Alamy
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Boybands like Backstreet Boys reigned supreme
Credit: EPA
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911 had 10 top 10 hits during their career
Credit: Andrew Barr - The Sun Glasgow
But soon, the likes of Take That, Spice Girls, Steps and S Club 7 brought the genre back to life.
While young fans adored the upbeat, smiling and colourful pop stars - many complete with dance routines they could copy - behind the facade, it was often a much darker story.
While a number of female pop stars from that time have spoken about their struggles with eating disorders and body image at the height of their fame, for their male counterparts, their demons often presented themselves in substance abuse.
Indeed, for every Reach for the Stars or Bodyshakin' hit, there's a dark story to be told.
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Here are five male pop stars who have bravely spoken out over the years about the struggles they faced after finding fame.
Jon Lee - S Club 7
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S Club 7's Jon Lee had an addiction to crystal meth in the years after the band split
Credit: Nic Serpell-Rand / Channel 4
S Club 7 burst onto the music scene in 1998 with their own TV series, Miami 7, followed by catchy debut single Bring It All Back.
They went on to sell 10 million albums worldwide and win two Brit Awards.
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However, Jon, 43, recently revealed he was blowing £250 a week on crystal meth and then trashing his flat with a hammer while out of it.
In fact, his habit was so bad it nearly killed him and even saw him sectioned back in 2019.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Jon revealed that he got into crystal meth - a highly addictive 'party' drug that can cause psychosis, hallucination, paranoia and mania - when he was in his thirties - long after S Club had gone their separate ways.
I was a Noughties popstar who couldn't go 20mins without a drink - now I'm sober with a new career
He revealed: "I didn't even recognise myself at that time. Sometimes, in the midst of one of the psychotic episodes where I'd be smashing my flat up with a hammer, I'd catch sight of myself in the mirror and say: 'What the f***?'.
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"I'd have a moment of lucidity, thinking: 'I was a successful young man, I had a brilliant career, incredible life. What am I doing?'
"I'd be standing there, holes in the walls around me, cuts all over my knuckles, my eye swollen from where I'd been punching myself in the head. I'd shaved my hair too. I didn't look anything like Jon-from-S Club – or what people would expect Jon-from-S Club to look like."
Kavana
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Teen heartthrob Kavana has released a memoir detailing his drug and alcohol addiction
Credit: Getty
Kavana - real name Anthony Kavanagh - became a teen heartthrob in the late 90s aged 16.
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The star had hits including I Can Make You Feel Good and Special Kind of Something, but his squeaky clean image was soon replaced by a drug and alcohol addiction that left him homeless.
With an army of young, female fans, Anthony was forced to hide his sexuality and started to use alcohol "as a comfort".
The singer has revealed all about his battles in a new memoir, Pop Scars, including how he ended up smoking crack in a skip in Hackney with a homeless woman he had just met.
He also recounts a moment he woke up in another stranger's flat, having realised he had been paid for sex.
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He told The Guardian: "Alcohol was the start and the end. I would never have taken drugs without alcohol. But yeah, I was like a loose cannon for some of those times, got myself into some situations.'
AJ McLean - Backstreet Boys
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AJ McLean battled addiction for 20 years before finally finding a way to stay sober
Credit: The Mega Agency
The Backstreet Boys became one of the biggest boybands worldwide in the 90s thanks to hit songs including I Want it That Way and Everybody (Backstreet's Back).
The five piece - consisting of AJ, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough - have sold over 130 million records worldwide.
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But despite their huge success, AJ, 47, hid a dark secret from fans and his bandmates.
AJ battled a drug and alcohol addiction for two decades, and revealed that when he was at rock bottom, he was "never sober, not for a second".
But his bandmates staged an intervention and he went to rehab, but it wouldn't be the only time.
Having previously described himself as a "chronic relapser", he told Fox News Digital. "I don't have another relapse in me. It will not end the lucky way it has ended in the past when I've dodged bullets and never went to jail, never got a DUI.
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"I'm pretty sure the last time I did drugs, there was fentanyl in there. I'm still here talking to you. I've dodged more bullets than I'd like to."
Jimmy Constable - 911
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911's Jimmy Constable said being trapped in hotel rooms due to the band's fame lead to him raiding the mini bar as his alcohol addiction took hold
Credit: BBC
Another UK boyband that was big in the 90s was the trio 911, consisting of Jimmy, Lee Brennan and Spike Dawbarn.
During their five-year career, they had 10 Top 10 hits including Bodyshakin', Party People and Night to Remember.
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But last year - following the tragic death of One Direction star Liam Payne - Jimmy opened up about his addiction to pills and booze.
He told The Sun: "The problem was, the best way to secure us was to lock us in our rooms, and what is in the room? A mini-bar.
"So I had a party-for-one that seemed to carry on for years. It was wild but the only way you could get frustration out."
Due to the constant pressures from their record company, Jimmy descended into alcoholism, infamously appearing drunk on SM:TV Live - the Saturday morning kids' show hosted by Ant and Dec and Cat Deeley.
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After the band split in 2000, Jimmy sought solace in drink, downing 10-12 bottles of wine every day with his then-girlfriend.
"I felt it was easy just to drink all day, and then when the drink didn't numb it anymore, I turned to the drugs.'
Thankfully, Jimmy has overcome his demons and is now a paramedic.
Ritchie Neville - 5ive
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5ive's Ritchie Neville was arrested in Dublin after a fight and when the band split, he started to drink too much
Credit: BBC
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Known as the bad boys of pop, 5ive were signed by Simon Cowell in 1997.
They had a meteoric rise to face and topped the charts with hits including If Ya Gettin' Down, Keep on Movin' and Everybody Get Up.
But as with other boybands, the pressure of their hectic schedule, being swarmed by fans and press and still being so young was a melting pot of disaster waiting to happen.
In 2000, Ritchie, 45, and bandmate J Brown, 49, were arrested in Dublin after getting into a fight with a man who had said Irish boyband Westlife were better than 5ive.
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When the band imploded in the early Noughties, Ritchie spiralled.
He told The Sun's TV Mag: "After the band, you know, I hit an epic low.
"I just didn't know what I wanted to do. I was completely emotionally and spiritually lost.
"So I did drink way more than I should for a few years there. I drank to forget."
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