The Eagles - Joe Walsh: 'I Wouldn't Be Here If I Was Still Boozing'

The guitarist admits he was a "functioning alcoholic" throughout the 1970s and 1980s and had he not stopped to get clean in 1994, he'd be dead.

He tells Rolling Stone, "If I hadn't quit drinking when I did, I probably wouldn't even be here. Most of the guys that I ran with in the 1970s aren't here and I don't really get why I am, but here I am. A lot of people have reached out to me and said it was important watching me stop for them to decide to. Maybe I'm here for that.

"I was a functioning alcoholic for a while, but towards the end of it I just crashed. I crossed the line, shall we say. I spiralled downwards and it happened pretty quickly, and I just ran out of options... I had a good run. I took it as far as it could go.

"I'm so, so glad that I quit. I've got a life that I never could have imagined back then. I didn't think I'd ever be funny again or anything. I thought all the fun was over. But I'm having a great time."