Pink says she nearly died after overdose at 16: ‘I was off the rails’

‘I was a punk. I had a mouth. I had a chip on my shoulder’

Pink has revealed that she had almost died after overdosing at 16 in an interview with 60 Minutes.

In the interview aired on 22 October, the singer reflected on the challenges she faced during her teenage years including drug use at a young age, which led to a near-fatal accident at a Thanksgiving rave that resulted in a wake-up call.

“I was a punk. I had a mouth. I had a chip on my shoulder,” the “So What” artist told Cecilia Vega in the segment. “Basically, I grew up in a house where every day my parents were screaming at each other, throwing things, hated each other. And then I got into drugs. I was selling drugs. And then I was kicked out of the house. I dropped out of high school. I was off the rails.”

The 44-year-old pop star explained to Vega that she credited the fateful overdose as the catalyst to her turning her life around. “Thanksgiving of 1995 I was at a rave, and I overdosed,” she recalled. “I was on — oh boy — ecstasy, angel dust, crystal, all kinds of things. And then I was out. Done. Too much.”

In a 2012 interview with Shape, the singer described the harrowing experience: “It wasn’t to the point of going to the hospital, but I remember getting up off the floor in the morning — and that was the last time I ever touched a drug again.”

In the days following her overdose, she told the outlet that a local DJ offered her a performance slot during a hip-hop night with one catch. At the time, she said, “His only caveat was that I couldn’t do drugs, so I didn’t. That’s the thing with me – once I make up my mind, I’m done.”

It wasn’t long after that Pink signed a deal with LaFace Records and joined the short-lived R&B girl group Choice before launching her lucrative solo career in 2000.

Although time has passed since her days of being wild, the singer is still haunted by the loss of friends who overdosed – including her friend Sekou Harris, who died from a heroin overdose when they were only 14. On the Kelly Clarkson Show earlier this year, Pink explained: “I lost several friends, unfortunately, to overdose, and the second one was very, very, very close to me, and I loved him very much.”

The “Raise Your Glass” singer — who shares daughter Willow, 12, and son Jameson, six, with husband CareyHart – has since been a vocal mental health advocate and been candid with her fans about her own struggles.

She told 60 Minutes that she prefers to be open so that her fans can “connect” with her. “I guess I look at it in a very specific way: If I’m a mystery to you, how can I expect you to connect with me? And if I’m a person that’s desperate for connection, then why would mystery be interesting to me?” she said. “I want to know you. I want you to know me.”