Lulu spent decades keeping her alcoholism separate from the confident public image audiences associated with her. More than a decade into sobriety, she says she no longer carries the same shame about that part of her life.
“Now that I’ve come out and been vocal about being an alcoholic, I’m not proud of it, but I’m not ashamed,” the 77-year-old singer said in a recent interview with The i Paper, as Woman&Home reported.
Lulu publicly disclosed her alcoholism in her 2025 memoir, If Only You Knew, after getting sober in 2013. In a lengthy interview with The Independent, she described the secrecy surrounding her drinking, the shame she associated with becoming like her alcoholic father and the childhood violence that shaped much of her later life.
The “To Sir with Love” singer has described speaking publicly about her alcoholism as liberating after years of protecting what she called the “squeaky clean” Lulu image. She told the BBC that sharing the difficulties of addiction had brought relief after keeping them private for so long.
Lulu Says She No Longer Feels the Shame She Once Carried
Lulu grew up in a volatile Glasgow household where her father drank heavily and abused her mother. She told STV News that the violence and unpredictability made her hypervigilant from a young age, even as there was also love within the family.
Fame brought another kind of pressure when her career took off as a teenager. Lulu has said she was encouraged to change her name, soften her Glasgow accent and fit a carefully managed public persona. The Independent reported that the gap between that public identity and her private life became one of the central themes of her memoir.
Her drinking remained hidden while she continued working. Lulu told the BBC that she could drink privately, fall asleep and still get up for professional commitments the next morning, describing herself as a highly functioning alcoholic whose problem was not obvious to many people around her.
She has also described alcoholism as something that affected more than one person in her family. In the BBC interview, Lulu said she came to view recovery as a way of breaking a pattern that had extended across generations.
She Admitted She Needed Help at Her 65th Birthday
Lulu’s turning point came during a family gathering for her 65th birthday in 2013. Her niece was discussing somebody else who was struggling with alcohol when Lulu unexpectedly admitted that he was not the only person at the table with a problem.
Her sister told her she had already suspected something was wrong. Lulu later recalled feeling shame, fear and anxiety immediately after saying it aloud, but the admission quickly led to treatment.
Within 24 hours, she traveled to the United States and entered the Meadows treatment center in Arizona for six weeks. She told the BBC that she then attended one or two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a day for the next five years.
Lulu has remained sober since 2013 but does not speak about recovery as something she can simply forget. During a 2026 appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast, she again discussed her alcoholism and the way recovery changed how she understands herself. She has separately said she maintains a healthy awareness that relapse remains possible.
Recovery Is Now Part of the Story She Is Willing to Tell
Going public with her alcoholism has allowed Lulu to discuss parts of her life that she once worked hard to keep separate from her career. She has said she hopes speaking openly about addiction, family patterns and recovery can help other people recognize similar problems in their own lives.
Music remains a major part of her life in recovery. Lulu released the dance-pop single “I’m In Love Again” in August 2026. Apple Music lists the single as an Aug. 7 release through Stanley Park Records.
The track is part of Let the Girl Sing Out, her first studio album of new material in more than a decade. The record includes 11 songs and songwriting contributions from Lulu, her brother Billy Lawrie, Mark Taylor and Paul Barry.
Lulu’s official store currently lists Let the Girl Sing Out for release in January 2027.