Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody opens up about his depression

Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has opened up about his ongoing battle with depression during an interview with Eamonn Mallie.

The singer-songwriter from Bangor recalls how he found it hard during the early years with his band and how he has had suicidal thoughts.

“One show we did in Leeds, there was one person at it. So we had many, many lean years, most of our shows were about 40 people or so,” he said.

“We made the album Final Straw in 2003, which I thought was an extraordinary record, and I’m very hard on myself, I even thought it was a good record. When that came out to no success at all initially, that’s when I got depressed.”

The 41-year-old said he turned to alcohol in order to bury his feelings.

“I drank a lot back then and for many, many years after it. I would disappear into a bottle for sure. That’s how I dealt with my depression, I didn’t really deal with it, I just drank it away,” he continued.

“I’ve been suicidal at times in my life, but it was always just a thought, not the thought that I would, ‘how am I going to kill myself’ more the thought that ‘wouldn’t it be better if I wasn’t here’,” he said.

You can watch Eamonn Mallie: Face to Face with Gary Lightbody on Wednesday at 10.45pm or catch up here after it airs.

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