Travie McCoy, Drug Addiction: How Breakup With Katy Perry Helped Gym Class Heroes Singer to Get Sober

Posted on Oct 14th 2012 1:55PM by Brittany Galla

Travie McCoy talks drug abuse, how Katy Perry breakup helped FilmMagic

In a new interview airing tonight, Gym Class Heroes' Travie McCoy opens up about years of prescription drug abuse and what made him sober up.

Travie sat down with VHI's Behind the Music and explained that after four failed attempts at rehab, he finally decided to end his drug habit after breaking up with Katy Perry in 2009. "I was sick of trying to feed this monster," he said in the preview clip. "If I didn't do something, I was gonna end up dead."

The "Billionaire" singer's prescription drug addiction started in his teens, but one day, it all caught up to him. "One morning, I woke up and I went to the bathroom, straight to the medicine cabinet to find my pills, and I looked in the mirror for a good half-hour, just staring at myself," he recalled. "I'm like, 'Who is this guy?' My face was sunken in. I had these awful rings under my eyes. It wasn't me. I knew if I didn't do something, I was gonna end up dead. That was the morning I decided to break the cycle."

Now clean, Travie reflects back on that dark period in his life, saying, "I wouldn't wish that type of pain and agony on my worst enemy."

Watch Travie's full Behind the Music interview tonight on VHI at 9 p.m. ET.

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