The legendary composer says becoming sober is “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals he is a recovering alcoholic

The legendary composer says becoming sober is "the best thing that ever happened to me."

By Sharareh Drury

April 20, 2026 4:15 p.m. ET

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Andrew Lloyd Webber. Credit:

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- Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed that he's a recovering alcoholic, sharing that he secretly drank for years after he claimed to have quit.

- "Sixteen months ago I decided that I needed help," Webber said in a recent interview.

- Webber revealed he has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and will sell off the last of his luxury wine collection.

Legendary British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is getting candid about his struggles with alcoholism.

A decade ago, Webber sold off his prestigious wine collection, which included cases worth over $60,000, and declared he was done with drinking. Speaking with *The Times *in an interview published Saturday, he revealed that his abstinence only lasted 18 months.

"I was doing what they call ‘white-knuckling’, without any backup, and I started to worry that I wasn’t being creative," Webber shared. "And I thought, 'But I’ve said to everybody that I’m not drinking.' So I started to drink secretly."

The musical theater master, whose successful works include "All I Ask of You" from* The Phantom of the Opera *and "Memory" from *Cats*, confirmed he is a "recovering alcoholic" to the outlet.

"Sixteen months ago I decided that I needed help and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me," the 78-year-old added, noting that he is committed to auctioning off the last of his wine and going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.**

Andrew Lloyd Webber at the 78th Annual Tony Awards in 2025.

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Webber explained how despite thinking his drinking was secretive enough, "everybody" knew.

"I started getting into a downhill spiral and about 18 months ago the family were in a desperate state. My wife was feeling she couldn’t go on," Webber said, adding that his initial attempt at rehab did not work but he soon began AA meetings in Switzerland and then the U.K.

The composer shared how three years after the passing of his eldest son Nicholas, who died of gastric cancer at 43 and whom Webber said was also an alcoholic, the most important part of being sober is being closer to his family. Webber shared how a few months ago he entered his New York apartment to find a touching memento from one of his children to commemorate one year of not drinking. "I went in and there were all these balloons with ‘1’ on them — my youngest daughter had sent them to celebrate me being one year sober," he said.

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Despite preconceptions of what AA might be like, Webber admitted he "adored" attending meetings, even if he is sometimes recognized by fellow attendees. "What I love about it is, you go into a room and everybody’s equal. I’ve made friends that I wouldn’t have thought possible," he said. "I did the meeting in New York on the day I was opening* Cats: The Jellicle Ball* last week, and nobody said a thing."

Webber explained what helped him admit to his own addiction was hearing someone else describe the "stupidity" of addiction and the "ludicrous lengths" that go into "hiding and pretending."

Reflecting on his legacy, the Tony Award winner said there are "a couple of songs" of his "that have been hits where I'd definitely had a glass of wine and thought, that was all right." What's more important to him though is that "nothing did go very wrong" such as him having "some frightful accident" due to drinking.**

Andrew Lloyd Webber on opening night of "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" on Broadway in 2026.

Bruce Glikas/Getty

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Speaking on one of his most recent successes, the Off Broadway *Phantom* spinoff *Masquerade*, Webber said he could not have worked on that project if he wasn't sober. "I wouldn’t have been concentrating enough," he said.

Following the recent opening of *Cats: The Jellicle Ball*, a reimagining of *Cats*, on Broadway, Webber is crafting two future musicals — one based on the 2006 film *The Illusionist* and another inspired by the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa. **

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