Madness frontman Suggs – whose real name is Graham McPherson – has announced he’s quit drinking after opening up about his battle with alcoholism. The 64-year-old musician confessed that he’s been struggling with drink for more than 40 years. But after four decades, he has finally realised that enough is enough.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, he candidly confessed: “I’ve been a bit sort of jocular about it, but no, it did get a bit serious. I mean, it was alcoholism, and there’s no way in this horrible thing to admit to yourself, because I was a drunk. I was a good drinker, I was a bad drinker.”

He added to Nihal Arthanayake on the Headliners show: “When you’re drinking too much, it just becomes your sole raison d’etre. I’m just [not] interested, basically, in anything other than myself and sitting there getting drunk. And then my family started to suggest I was getting a bit … [too reliant].”

The 80s hitmaker, who has 17 top ten hits with his band Madness, continued: “I went to see an addiction therapist, and he just said, ‘You’ve got to stop’, basically. It’s just that thin line between drinking socially and drinking unsocially and, you know, kind of ruining your life, which is where I’m sort of headed.”

He went on to say getting older has affected how much alcohol he could tolerate, admitting: “It was physiology. You can’t come with probably the amounts that I used to drink when I was younger, anyway. And the hangover were… like two days sort of wiped out of your life.”

Suggs suggested: “I didn’t really get into any really negative or destructive kind of elements of life. But it’s just when the drink becomes more important than anybody or anything else, that’s what was happening”.

Revealing he had been sober for a couple of months, the singer joked about the reaction from his friends, admitting it had “caused shockwaves” among those who live close to his home in London.

He went on: “There was actually a day of mourning with all of the off licenses and local pubs. They had a procession dressed in black, and they had a big beer bottle in a hearse with RIP. It went passed my house. It was very sad.”

Suggs also revealed that his unhealthy drinking had impacted his mental health, explaining: “If you don’t stop drinking, you will never find out what’s really going on in his conscious or subconscious.”

The Baggy Trousers singer is preparing to head out on tour with the band starting their run in Sacramento on May 14. They will then spend June and July playing shows and festivals across Europe and the UK.

When asked about going back on stage now he is siber, Suggs said: “This will be the first tour so that’s kind of intriguing. Most of the boys know and in fact, a couple of the other packed up a little while ago.

“I think at 63 and so many of my friends, without naming names, about my age in this industry, I mean, I could tell you loads, all packed up around being 60. I’m lucky to tell the tale, really. It’s funny, it’s just a kind of new beginning, without being sort of getting too righteous about it.”