Over the years, addiction cases have become well documented within the music industry. Many of the world’s most famous artists have openly struggled with substance abuse issues and thankfully, a large portion of them have overcome their dependencies. And because of that, top personalities from the rock world have united to record a new track that promotes and celebrates sobriety.
Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Def Leppard singer Joe Elliot and former Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx have all united for this particular song. Titled “Maybe It’s Time,” the track is being released alongside a new film that promotes opioid awareness. It is also coming from an entirely new band (featuring the names mentioned above) called Artists For Recovery.
Other participants in the song include members from Sixx’s Sixx: A.M. band and it appears as though Sixx had been one of the shepherds of the project. Speaking via a press release, he sounded quite excited about what the group had put together.
“I am proud to bring together these artists to help raise funds for the Global Recovery Initiative Foundation,” Sixx explained. “The opioid epidemic did not go away when the pandemic came along. Just the opposite … those in early recovery became even more at risk than before so it’s more important now than ever to raise awareness and support them. I really believe that united we can make a difference and save lives.”
Indeed, sales from the single will go towards the Global Recovery Initiative Foundation and it has a special tie in to International Overdose Awareness Day, which occurs on August 31. That happens to be the day that the song will be made widely available.
The track itself (which is now available to hear via YouTube) definitely has a rock edge, but there are many emotional elements to it as well. You can hear each singer pour their hearts out in the lyrics, which speak to redemption and hope amid addiction struggles.
Allen Kovac, the CEO of Sixx: A.M’s label Better Noise Entertainment, was also quoted in the release. He made a point to emphasize how tragic addictions can be, highlighting the many musicians who lost their lives to a dependency. The hope for this track would be to steer artists and fans toward the direction of sobriety.
“Label and studio heads know there is nothing sadder than when an artist or actor you’ve worked with passes away due to substance use disorders,” Kovac added. “This initiative is a wake-up call to the entertainment industry that we can’t lose more legends like Prince, Tom Petty and Michael Jackson.”
You can watch the YouTube clip of “Maybe It’s Time” below…
