The lead singer of The Script, Danny O’Donoghue, admitted that he resorted to heavy drinking during a brief flight before deciding to renounce alcohol entirely. Following the tragic loss of his fellow band member, Mark Sheehan, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 46, O’Donoghue had planned to practice strict abstinence from alcohol for the entire duration of the Christmas season.
Upon arriving back in Dublin from the UK to celebrate the holidays, he confessed to falling back into the habit of drinking. In an interview with the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, the 43-year-old artist revealed his immediate relapse after landing, which involved consuming multiple glasses of whiskey.
He confessed to spending most of the festive period intoxicated despite his best intentions. O’Donoghue added that for the past 14 years, he has made it a tradition to spend Christmas Day at the Temple Street children’s hospital, interacting with the young patients and medical staff from 9 am till 3 pm.
Relating his experience, he stated that he remained sober on Christmas Eve and after his hospital visit, but indulged in alcohol consumption from the 25th to the 27th of December. On the 27th, he decided that continuing to stay in Dublin would worsen his condition, prompting his return to the UK, where his recording studio and girlfriend are located.
From that day on, he pledged to stop drinking and smoking, reflecting that he finally felt assertive enough to resist the influences within himself that instigated such behaviours.
“In addition to this, I took the plunge and returned to attending church services,” he shared, acknowledging that his battle with substance abuse began during his school years.
This experimental tendency, a common trait in young musicians, he said, led to periodic periods of sobriety followed by intermittent indulgences, though he never reached a point of losing control completely. Commenting on his upbringing in Dublin, the singer compared it to the typical experiences of many others, describing it as ‘the mad part.’
Born into a career in music with the Irish boy band Mytown, alongside Sheehan, O’Donoghue later formed the pop group The Script in 2008. The group enjoyed considerable success, boasting four UK number one singles and seven albums within the top 10.
Despite his career accomplishments, O’Donoghue confessed that he failed music in school, a revelation made all the more shocking due to his later diagnosis of dyslexia. Reminiscing about his school days, he stated “I was under the impression that I could do anything, an assumption that was clearly unfounded.
After a challenging fourth year, his mother suggested a change of scenery. They moved to a school with fewer rules, no uniforms and the freedom to smoke, although not in the classrooms. Homesick and nonchalant, O’Donoghue wasn’t keen on the education system, developing more interest in music.
In recalling his past, he explains, “The reason I didn’t excel in school is because I’m dyslexic.” – PA”