The Dean quote affected me the most. Robert seemed to be the most affected in the Atlanta video, so I am surprised he wasn't quoted in the article. Then again, he's the only member of the band not to speak to Brett, so...
Honestly, the bad stuff revealed doesn't bother me. As a long-time fan, knowing there were some clear problems that related to his behavior in the last couple years makes me feel less like he gave up and more like he just succumbed to the weight he carried on his shoulders. In other words, instead of making the conscious decision to give up and just ride the drug wave into eternity, events just simply broke him one at a time. Maybe as a fan I don't deserve that kind of, well, satisfaction isn't the right word, but whatever it is, maybe I don't deserve that information more than he deserves his privacy, but the reporter only could have gotten then information from those he interviewed, and if it was printed, I doubt it was told 'off the record.'
I went back through his stories and his spiral and on a couple threads in here, I stated that it seemed like the beginning of the end for him was when his brother died. He had successful sober stints after jail in the No. 4 era and with Velvet Revolver, but that his behavior became more reckless and erratic after Michael's death and he never seemed to have another stretch of sobriety again.
This article seems to confirm that. As soon as he heard of his death, down the hatch the whisky went. Later that year the DUI, the problems with VR intensified, he goes to a very short rehab, then quickly got back with STP, and he just never seemed to be the same performer again. He was just on that slow slide into the abyss. Having to tour constantly over the last couple years just probably moved the timetable up a bit.
