Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale has paid tribute to former Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds, recalling how the late star had saved him from “the fatally dangerous world of Xanax”.
Hinds died in a motorcycle accident last Wednesday (August 20). He was 51 years old. Mastodon later paid their respects on stage, telling the audience that they had “lost somebody very special to us”.
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Over the weekend, Hinds’ friend Rossdale shared a photograph of the pair together and reflected on their relationship.
“We lost Brent. This is just terrible and useless. What a musician,” his message began.
Rossdale went on to credit Hinds with saving him from going down a dark path, writing that “he was directly responsible” for preventing his “self sabotage back to the fatally dangerous world of Xanax”.
“He spoke about its actual deadly effects, the slowing down of the body, the barely breathing,” Rossdale continued. “I will always be grateful for that advice. This life can be ended in a literal moment.”
He concluded the tribute by saying that he “should have taken guitar lessons from Brent”. See the post above.
As Loudwire notes, Rossdale had previously opened up about his past struggles with Xanax and Hinds’ involvement in his subsequent recovery.
During an appearance on Steve-O’s Wild Ride! podcast in 2023, he said: “I was addicted to Xanax for like four years or something like that when I was working a lot internationally. I was like, ‘Oh, look, If I take this, I think I’m gonna sleep’. I’m going to go sleep for eight hours. [It became] this habit, and suddenly, before I knew it, it was three or four years, and I couldn’t even think of sleeping without Xanax.
“I then decided I should stop, so I just stopped and I did two weeks where every night, it was like I’d been in a shower [from sweating] and then I got into bed. People told me after that it was super dangerous [to] stop [Xanax] dead.”
He went on to remember running into Hinds at a festival in 2022. “I’d just met Brent really quickly, and he asked me how I was doing,” Rossdale added.
“I was telling myself all the reasons why I should take the Xanax. And I said to [Hinds], ‘I’m doing alright’, and I rattled this thing in my pocket. I said, ‘But I think that I shouldn’t probably do it, right? I think I’m gonna go back on this train’. He goes, ‘Don’t!’.”
