Fatboy Slim Felt 'Paralysed' DJing Sober After Rehab
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- Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) said his first five performances after getting sober were terrifying — he "couldn't dance, and couldn't enjoy it" — until a "beautiful night in Japan" with an excitable crowd restored his confidence
- Cook entered rehab in 2009 after his then-wife, radio DJ Zoe Ball, told him she would leave if he didn't stop drinking; he called this his "wakeup moment" after years of people trying to intervene
- Cook described addiction as "a parasite" that "protects its own" and said getting sober was "probably the hardest thing I've ever done," crediting a month of rehab with breaking through his denial
- Cook has now been sober for nearly 15 years since his 2009 rehab stay
- Cook told the story on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs with presenter Lauren Laverne, with the full episode airing Sunday at 10am on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4
- Fatboy Slim rose to prominence in the 1990s with club hits including Praise You, The Rockafeller Skank, and Right Here, Right Now, and won the 2002 Grammy for Best Music Video for Weapon of Choice starring Christopher Walken
Why it matters: Cook's account offers a candid look at how addiction recovery collides with professional identity for touring performers — five shows of paralyzing stage fright before a Japanese crowd unlocked his ability to perform sober again, nearly 15 years after his 2009 rehab stay.
