Bon Jovi drummer TICO TORRES has opened up about his years of alcohol abuse in a new band documentary, revealing his heavy drinking was related to his absent father.
The rocker admits he was "killing" himself with drinking in the early 1990s until his bandmates urged him to seek help - and he turned to band psychologist Lou Cox, who helped keep the bandmates together after they fired manager Doc MCGrath in 1991.
In new film Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful, Torres says, "I was the kind of person that wouldn't drink for months and then blow off two bottles. A lot of that was s**t I had to learn about - my father leaving me when I was a kid... There was a lot of anger behind that.
"I learned about myself through seeking people... to help me out. I came to grips with that. I met him (father) years later after 20 years... and I was able to come to terms with that and forgive him... I'm really OK.
Bandmate Jon Bon Jovi reveals it was inevitable that the band stepped in and tried to help their drummer: "He had a lot of demons... He was a really bad drunk... T was a very mean, mean man. He'd get you in a lot of trouble with a lot of people."
And thanks to Cox's help, Torres has turned his life around. Bon Jovi adds, "His is the most together life of all of us."
The drummer's past problems gave him the expertise to help guitarist Richie Sambora when he was struggling with alcohol and prescription pills last year (08).
He explains, "The fact that I had four brothers come up to me and say, 'We care about you' was big... and it's the same way I go up to people in the band."
In the new film, Sambora reveals he was initially embarrassed about his dependency on drugs and alcohol - a problem that landed him in rehab.
He says, "At first I was ashamed of it... My band and my family picked me up... I'm back to where I used to be."