Dallas Taylor died Sunday in Los Angeles at the age of 66.
Taylor may best be remembered as the drummer for Crosby, Stills & Nash at Woodstock and their first two albums, but he did his greatest work away from music, and became a positive force for the world.
Like many in the industry, he fell victim to drugs, using them and cheering to compensate for his low opinion of himself. He became severely depressed, and tried to kill himself by stabbing himself in the stomach with a butcher knife. He also drank so much that his body needed a liver transplant in 1990, five years after becoming sober.
You see, unlike many inside and outside of the music industry, Taylor turned himself around and changed his life. He went on to become an addiction counselor specializing in interventions and in reuniting alcoholics and addicts with their families.
After the suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Taylor wrote in The Los Angeles Times:
"I understand what it is like to be an angry, depressed addict who needs so badly to be liked that he gets on stage and sweats and bleeds and hopes that people will somehow connect," he wrote.
"But as addicts whose only real happiness is being high — whether it's on dope or music, writing, acting or painting — success becomes our worst enemy. When self-hatred runs so deep, it is never alleviated by fame or wealth."
After he became sober, Dallas acquired credentials in treating others, starting with adolescents. Taylor's wife, Patti, who donated one of her kidneys to her ailing husband in 2007 said, "He saved a lot of lives and his own in the process,".
Like many in the industry, he fell victim to drugs, using them and cheering to compensate for his low opinion of himself. He became severely depressed, and tried to kill himself by stabbing himself in the stomach with a butcher knife. He also drank so much that his body needed a liver transplant in 1990, five years after becoming sober.
You see, unlike many inside and outside of the music industry, Taylor turned himself around and changed his life. He went on to become an addiction counselor specializing in interventions and in reuniting alcoholics and addicts with their families.
After the suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Taylor wrote in The Los Angeles Times:
"I understand what it is like to be an angry, depressed addict who needs so badly to be liked that he gets on stage and sweats and bleeds and hopes that people will somehow connect," he wrote.
"But as addicts whose only real happiness is being high — whether it's on dope or music, writing, acting or painting — success becomes our worst enemy. When self-hatred runs so deep, it is never alleviated by fame or wealth."
After he became sober, Dallas acquired credentials in treating others, starting with adolescents. Taylor's wife, Patti, who donated one of her kidneys to her ailing husband in 2007 said, "He saved a lot of lives and his own in the process,".
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