SUM 41's DERYCK WHIBLEY Celebrates 10 Years Of Sobriety

SUM 41's Deryck Whibley, whose battle with alcohol addiction landed him in the hospital with kidney and liver failure, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of his getting sober.

Earlier today (Saturday, April 27),the 44-year-old singer/guitarist shared the following message on his social media: "10 years of sobriety.

"This post is a little late for two reasons. One, I've never counted the days of my sobriety. There's nothing wrong with counting. It just didn't suit me. And two, I rarely know what the actual date is, ever!

"10 years ago on April 15th, I went into the hospital with liver and kidney failure due to what had become excessive drinking. My drinking didn't start out that way, it usually doesn't. But eventually I crossed the invisible line and went from functional and in control, to addicted and dependent. Most of you know, i was in pretty bad shape.

"So today, I couldn't be happier to be able to say that I haven't picked up a drink since that fateful day and now have a full decade of being sober, healthy, physically and mentally strong and most importantly really happy.

"With a ton of work, and the huge help from my friends, family, fans and as always @sum41 mum I'm in the best place I've ever been in my life. I have the love and support of my amazing wife @aribarbara and we have two incredible children together to share our love and happiness with.

"And I couldn't be happier and more proud of what we've done in SUM 41. The band is in the best place we've ever been. 10 years ago we were at our lowest point personally and professionally. Not on speaking terms and couldn't even be in a room together. Members gone and quitting, tours not selling and no prospects of being played on the radio anymore and the future looking less than zero.

"As I laid in that hospital bed looking at the tatters my life had become, I vowed that if I survived this mess I created for myself and got out of here, I was going to fight, work and scrape our way back to the top again. I was determined not let the story end there.

"Today, our song 'Landmines' went #1 on Billboard in both the U.S. and Canada across multiple formats making it our highest charting single, beating out 'Fat Lip' and 'In Too Deep'. Our record 'Heaven :x: Hell' came out and beat all of our old chart records in countries everywhere. Our shows are selling out all around the world and in some cases we're adding 2nd nights in multiple cities.

"I write this not to brag, but to recognize and be grateful for the moment. I'm glad it was hard to get here. I'm happy it took a lot of work and wasn't easy. And most of all i'm thankful for all the help.

"My younger self would've thought this moment was 'cool' and just moved onto the next. My present self understands how incredibly lucky i am.

"I really want to thank the few people who really helped me out at the very beginning and made me feel like I was not alone. @tommylee @iggypopofficial @mattsorum @duffmckagen @johnfeldy".

In a recent interview with People magazine, Whibley reflected on the worst moments of his alcohol addiction, saying that he often drank as a means to subside the symptoms of his long-lingering back pain.

"Because it was just nonstop touring, I never really took care of it," he said. "Things got worse, and I got to a point where we just put out a record, and I injured my back again for I think the third time. And it was really, really bad and really painful. The only options were to go home, cancel the rest of the years of touring and let that album just die, or take heavy painkillers. I don't remember what they were, but after seeing what became of the [oxycodone] epidemic across the U.S., I didn't really want to take any of that stuff."

"What I did notice was, when I had a couple drinks at night, my back pain would go away," he continued. "So I just thought, you know what? I can get through the tour because I pop some Advil, have a couple drinks, and I think I'll be fine. I just kept going on the tour."

As his pain got worse, "my drinking started earlier in the day," he said. "It just kept getting earlier and earlier because I was trying to self-medicate, trying to get through the tour…. All of a sudden if I didn't have a drink, my body starts shaking, my hands are shaking, and I would say to myself, 'I don't really want to drink right now.' But I had realized like, 'Oh my God, I'm having withdrawal syndrome, so I have to have a drink.' Then everything would mellow out. I'd feel better. But then you also feel good, because you just had a drink or two and you're like, 'Man, well, let's have another one. I've already had two. What's three?' And then, 'What's one more?' It just gets worse and worse and worse."

As previously announced, SUM 41 will make stops in the United States, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Italy, and more, and will perform their largest show to date in front of a sold-out crowd of over 35,000 at Paris La Défense Arena in France later this year before the official Canadian leg of the tour and their final shows as a band in Toronto, Ontario, on January 28 and 30, 2025, at Scotiabank Arena.

Released on March 29 via Rise Records, "Heaven :x: Hell" is the most ambitious album from SUM 41 yet — "Heaven" is 10 tracks of snarling high-energy pop punk, while "Hell" consists of ten heavy metal anthems spiked with fret-burning solos, thrashing riffs, and fist-pumping hooks. The band has been straddling the line of pop-punk and metal for their entire career, and "Heaven :x: Hell" Is a testament to their innovative sound and unmatched skill, proving them as pioneers 27 years after the bands inception.

SUM 41's storied 24-plus-year career includes over 15 million records sold worldwide, multiple Billboard-charting releases, a Grammy Award nomination, two Juno Awards (seven nominations),a Kerrang! Award in 2002, as well as multiple Alternative Press Music Awards.

Photo courtesy of Big Picture Media