In a recent interview on the Scars And Guitars podcast with Andrew McKaysmith, WINGER frontman Kip Winger discussed how he avoided the common pitfalls of fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s—an era when many musicians, including the late WARRANT frontman Jani Lane, struggled with the rock and roll lifestyle. Kip shared his experience (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):

“First off, alcohol made me physically ill. I could drink, and my grandmother was an alcoholic, so it not only made me sick, but I could out-drink anyone. It just wasn’t good for me. If I drank one bottle of wine, I’d be on my way for the second one. When I moved to Nashville, people wore drinking and driving like a badge of honor. One day, I just put the bottle down and said, ‘I’m done.’ It was starting to mess up my voice. I wasn’t an alcoholic, but I drank when I wasn’t performing because it would destroy my voice.”

Kip went on to share his thoughts on Jani Lane and the challenges he faced with addiction: “I had some rough interactions with Jani, but when he wasn’t drunk, he was the nicest guy. I don’t know what it is—maybe it’s a weakness, but I don’t mean that harshly. If you have a tendency to drink, that’s a tough thing to overcome. Vince Neil from MÖTLEY CRÜE is another example. The nicest guy when he’s sober, but the worst person when he’s drunk. In the ’80s, with bands like GUNS N’ ROSES, everyone followed that rock star image with bottles of Jack and all that nonsense. That was never my thing. I wanted to be a better musician, so I stayed away from it. And in all these rock star autobiographies, I see people talking about how they OD’d and were rushed to the hospital. I’m like, ‘You overdosed because you were stupid. You did drugs because you were stupid.'”