'My Struggles With Addiction Have Been My Greatest Gift': The Redemption Of Bluesfest's Beth Hart

That Beth Hart is alive today is a minor miracle.

A musical prodigy, she left home as a teenager to make her way as a musician, cracking the big time with her 1999 hit, L.A. Song, but soon after a serious drug addiction brought her down. Dropped by her label and finding herself in prison, Hart was forced to not only confront her addiction but also her undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Unlike so many performers before her Hart beat the odds. Since 2003 she's released a string of acclaimed LPs and worked with musicians of the calibre of Joe Bonamassa and Slash. Were Hart's travails the price to pay for her talent?

“To be honest, in a way my struggles with addiction have been my greatest gift – and I don't want this to come out the wrong way so I'll be careful. It means that when I'm having one of my episodes or I fall back into drinking I'm forced to lean more on my faith and the people I love. And I think there's something beautiful about that – when you're put into a position of frailty – when your ego gets smashed.

"I don't want to sound preachy or anything; all I can do is speak from my own experience. At the end of the day I guess – yeah my experiences have informed my art, but more important is that I'm finding that real peace comes from accepting who I am instead of overanalysing my life and attaching too much shame or glory to it.”

More...