00s pop punk icon ‘didn’t want to be here’ anymore before announcing ‘final tour’-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Jaret Reddick is loving life over 10 years after nearly walking away from everything (Picture: Jaret Ray Reddick)

Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick is back on top of the world over a decade after thinking he didn’t ‘want to be here’ anymore.

The 1985 singer, who is still touring and releasing music with the pop punk legends as well as his own country music solo project, was in a bad place in 2013, as he struggled to deal with the fallout from his divorce which sparked his mental health struggles.

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, he candidly said: ‘You and I have talked about this before, but that was the thing in 2013 when we were we did the “farewell tour” over here [in the UK] and we took about a year off.

‘That was what was going on, I didn’t know if I could do it anymore. Like, I couldn’t. Getting up in front of people did not was not something that that sounded like something I could do.

‘And I really didn’t know, really, if I even wanted to be here, you know? And so it was brutal.’

The band – whose lineup is completed today by Gary Wiseman, Chris Burney and Rob Felicetti – performed what was billed as their final UK tour towards the end of 2013, but three years later they were back playing venues across the country.

In 2013, Bowling For Soup played what was billed as their farewell tour (Picture: Burak Cingi/Redferns via Getty Images)

Now, Jaret and the band are feeling on top of the world (Picture: Larry Marano/REX/Shutterstock)

The 52-year-old musician has been open about his personal struggles, discussing openly discussing them on stage to this day, particular when he performs BFS song Turbulence at shows.

‘That was just a really rough time. The scary thing is that this thing that I love so much, you know, entertaining people making people smile – I had no desire to do it,’ he explained of the decision to step back 11 years ago.

‘So I knew something was wrong with me, that it wasn’t something like, you know, you’re just having a bad year or something like that. Because this is my life, you know?

‘Besides my wife and kids, I love this more than anything in the world. And so yeah, helped me to realise that, “Jaret, you got you got some stuff going on, dude, you got to get s**t together.” ‘

He is in a much better place (Picture: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Bowling For Soup have been entertaining crowds for decades (Picture: Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images)

He found ‘the right doctor’, and has focused on going to therapy and ‘taking his medications’, which has been ‘super helpful’ in getting him to a much happier place, as he’s been raising a young family with his second wife.

Jaret admitted ‘there’s no doubt’ he’s in a much happier place, and having interviewed him several times over the past decades, it’s evident in his eyes.

This year marks 30 years since the release of Bowling For Soup’s self titled debut, and their recent UK tour with best friends Less Than Jake celebrated two decades since A Hangover You Don’t Deserve, which featured the iconic single 1985.

‘We party,’ he insisted, when asked if touring has toned down over the years. ‘We all turn that on and off. When I’m home, I’m pretty normal dad.’

‘But it’s like, we get on that bus and instantly we’re all 23 again, and you go full blast,’ he added, while conceding that they’ve made some lifestyle choices after he and drummer Gary have had their share of health issues over the last couple of years.

‘We understand where we are age wise. So, we try and get a good healthy meal in at least once a day – which is not as easy as you think,’ he laughed.

With 12 studio albums in the bag, and constant tours, many bands may rest on their laurels and take their foot off the gas, but BFS have kept things rolling.

Last summer, they dropped their second Songs People Actually Liked compilation, this time looking at Taylor Swift style re-recordings of their most popular tracks 2004 to 2009.

‘This is just a big touring year for Bowling For Soup,’ he admitted. ‘But music wise, we have a couple of things coming up. We’ve got a couple of cover songs that we’re going to release throughout this year.

Jaret is looking forward to more BFS music in the future (Picture: Larry Marano/REX/Shutterstock)

‘And we have two new originals, two new Bowling For Soup songs recorded. We’re just not really sure what to do with them yet, you know?’

The changing music industry means more thought has to go into releasing music, as the band want to make sure they capitalise on each drop.

‘You have to be careful about how you release music because really, you kind of get this one chance for everybody to listen to it. And then it’s gone,’ Jaret pondered.

‘So I’ve been telling the guys, I think we need to be focused on putting something out next year.’

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