Ask Peter Frampton. The lifestyle of a rock and roll star may seem glamorous, but it isn’t always easy.
In between composing and recording, playing shows and everything else musicians have to do, the temptation of a wild lifestyle is just as prevalent.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, Frampton details exactly how rough that can be. The legendary guitarist hit on a variety of topics, but the interview’s topic of Frampton’s film career might be most interesting. You heard that right: Frampton starred in a film.
However, it was a bit of a disaster. A feature film version of The Beatles’ classic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” released in 1978. A massive failure, one would think that Frampton would’ve been irate.
But the truth is that the rock legend didn’t even realize, due to his inebriation. Firstly, his manager, Dee Anthony, lied to Frampton about Beatles legend Paul McCartney starring in the film. Secondly, it was barely a real production according to Frampton.
“There was barely a script,” Frampton said. “It just said, ‘Walk in here, someone will yell “playback” and then you lip-sync.’ Everyone thought we were too big to fail.”
Peter Frampton’s Drug Abuse at Peak
Frampton explains in the interview that he’s since taken responsibility for relying on the wrong people. Besides being lied to, his manager also ripped him off and left him bankrupt. But the guitarist was always clueless due to being fed hard drugs constantly.
“I was kept away from those things,” Frampton said. “I was kept high. If I needed weed, he made sure I had weed. If I needed cocaine, he made sure I had cocaine. He didn’t want me thinking about what was going on. It was criminal. I could have put him in jail.”
While eventually Frampton fired Anthony and got back on his feet, his career was irrevocably damaged. It took the majority of the 1980s of various artistic efforts to return. Either way, Frampton will go down as one of rock’s all-time great guitarists.
