Lead singer of world renowned gospel group The Perrys revealed in an interview his struggle with dependency to prescription medications. Joseph Habedank shared more about his addiction and recovery in an interview with The Blaze.
After spending more than a decade with Christian music group The Perrys, the singer resigned from the group in May of 2013. In a letter to fans on his Facebook page he said, “I have decided to step down as Lead Singer at this time.”
Habedank’s departure followed soon after the band announced that bass singer Tracy Stuffle suffered a stroke. This prompted fans to wonder about his sudden departure.
In his interview, Habedank revealed that, “The group that I was with became aware of my problem and came to me and basically were very kind and gave me an ultimatum [and] said, ‘Hey, you know, what would you like to do?’ We can’t really have you on the road, but what would you like to do?’”
Habedank’s dependency to prescription medication began after his doctor wrote a prescription for an ulcer that was found in his throat.
The singer said that the feelings of euphoria are what prompted him to take more than 10 pills each day.
A month after Habedank left the band, he checked into a rehabilitation facility just outside of Nashville where he completed 30 days of residential in-patient treatment, an intensive outpatient program, and attended 90 support meetings.
Recently he has celebrated 430 days of continued sobriety. By sharing his story, Habedank believes that it will help others who struggle with the disease of addiction.
“I …have this huge passion to raise awareness about prescription drug [dependency], because it’s so easy to justify it in our minds,” he said.
Habedank has released a new album entitled Welcome Home to help others in their recovery from the disease of addiction.
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