guitarist

25 August 2025

Gavin Rossdale is forever “grateful” to late Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds for talking him out of taking “fatally dangerous” Xanax again.

Gavin Rossdale is ‘grateful’ to Brent Hinds for talking him out of taking Xanax again

The Bush frontman has spoken candidly in the past about how he was addicted to the anxiety medication for years and that a conversation with the heavy metal star – who tragically died in a motorcycle crash, aged 51, on August 22 – stopped him from relapsing.

Reacting to the sad news of his passing, Gavin penned on Instagram alongside a picture of the pair: “We lost Brent .this is just terrible and useless . What a musician . And he was directly responsible for stopping me on a self sabotage back to the fatally dangerous world of Xanax when our paths crossed that i had already escaped . he spoke about its actual deadly effects.the slowing down of the body .the barely breathing . I will always be grateful for that advice . This life can be ended in a literal moment . I should have taken guitar lessons from Brent (sic).”

The 59-year-old rocker spent four years relying on Xanax to sleep, but was eventually able to ween himself off the drug.

Appearing on Steve-O’s podcast, Steve-O’s Wild Ride!, in 2023, Gavin recounted: “I was addicted to Xanax for, like, four years or something like that when I was working a lot internationally. . . . I was like, ‘Oh, look, If I take this, I think I’m gonna sleep.’ I’m going to go sleep for eight hours. . . . [It became] this habit, and suddenly, before I knew it, it was three or four years and I couldn’t even think of sleeping without Xanax. I then decided I should stop, so I just stopped and I did two weeks where every night, it was like I’d been in a shower [from sweating] and then I got into bed. . . . People told me after that it was super dangerous [to] . . . stop [Xanax] dead.”

The I Am Here to Save Your Life singer went on to share how a chance meeting with Brent at Rock am Ring in 2022 saved him from taking Xanax again, amid vocal issues.

He told the host: “You know, I had the most moment and – you know, it’s a willful namedrop, ‘cause it’s fun for the programme. I had an incredible moment – Mastodon is one of my favourite bands. I love that band, and we were playing Rock am Ring last year. . . . We were on the same stage . . . and I went to watch them. . . . They’re so heavy, and I didn’t know if they’d – you know, when you see heavy bands, you’re like, ‘Are they going to be friendly?'”

He continued: “I went over to them and we took pictures with them. I’d just met Brent really quickly, and he asked me how I was doing. I’d been having trouble with my voice, and I wasn’t feeling good. I was like, ‘When I’m in Europe, f*** it. I’m just going to take the Xanax. I’m just going to go back to my Xanax, and I had my little pill bottle with me. I was like, ‘I’ll stop in a month, when I finish the tour. I just have to get through this tour with my voice.’

“I was telling myself all the reasons why I should take the Xanax. . . . And I said to [Brent], ‘I’m doing alright’ and I rattled this thing in my pocket. I said, ‘But I think that I shouldn’t probably do it, right? I think I’m gonna go back on this train.’ He goes, ‘Don’t!’ . . . I said to him, ‘Yeah, I don’t feel good with my voice and I don’t feel very healthy. I’m being an idiot but I really think I might spend the month doing shows and eating Xanax so I can get through this.’

“He then went on to tell me his journey with it. How he was addicted to it for way longer, of course. Way heavier than me and way longer than me on Xanax and he was telling me about how, actually, it makes you – everything slows down to the point of close to death. All your organs. Everything. Completely. Everything slows down. I just hugged him and was like, ‘You just saved me because your wisdom and insight and experience have made me not do that.'”