Bez swaps cocaine-fuelled excess for organic living at 62
Bez, the iconic dancer and maraca-shaker from Happy Mondays, has undergone a remarkable transformation at age 62, swapping his notorious cocaine and party lifestyle for organic courgettes, intermittent fasting and health-conscious living. Despite surviving decades of excess and multiple near-death experiences including comas, motorbike crashes and kidnapping, he says that making changes at 49 proved it's never too late, and he now lives quietly in the Herefordshire countryside with his wife, two sausage dogs, and a commitment to self-sufficiency.
The musician gave up cocaine and sugar just after Christmas, embracing intermittent fasting and permaculture principles, including daily juicing, filtered water and organic vegetables grown in his Herefordshire garden. Though the Happy Mondays are currently touring to mark the 35th anniversary of their landmark album, Bez remains committed to his philosophical transformation, having previously lived on a Welsh commune and stood for parliament in 2015 as leader of the We Are the Reality party. He continues to advocate for rejecting corporate systems and capitalism, yet still drinks tequila regularly and hosts fire pit parties at his cottage.
- Bez quit cocaine and sugar at 62, transforming to intermittent fasting and organic self-sufficiency.
- The Happy Mondays dancer survived decades of wild excess including kidnapping, motorbike crashes and comas.
- He previously lived on a Welsh commune and stood for parliament as an anti-capitalist activist.
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Bez was the dancer and percussionist for Happy Mondays, an influential British band that emerged during Manchester's rave scene in the late 1980s. He became a distinctive and charismatic performer during the dance music boom of that era, known for his energetic stage presence.
For decades, Bez lived a lifestyle marked by heavy drug use and excess, and survived multiple life-threatening situations including overdoses and accidents. Despite circumstances that could easily have been fatal, he eventually began moving towards a radically different way of living.
In recent years, Bez has embraced practices focused on health, sustainability and self-sufficiency, moving away from the substances that characterised much of his earlier life. His transformation is notable because of the severity and duration of his previous habits and the fundamental nature of the change, raising questions about whether significant personal transformation is possible at any stage of life.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “‘I was so out of control!’ Bez on cocaine, Happy Mondays, his ‘sexless marriage’ to Shaun Ryder, organic courgettes …”.