Hook & Barrel asked rock legend and dedicated bowhunter Ted Nugent to sound off on his philosophy of clean living and how he came to a healthy equilibrium after meteoric rise in the temptation-ridden world of music in the 1960s and '70s. Here's what he had to say:
My insanely gifted bandmates and I were rehearsing our Chuck Berry meets Little Richard fire-breathing soul music best like young, gung-ho Detroit boys possessed. Lead singer John Drake’s forehead veins protruded like his heroes James Brown and Mitch Ryder as we crescendoed yet again. Sweat flowed, smiles glowed and at the tender age of 12, I was on cloud nine, exhilarated beyond measure, gratified with the velocity, tightness, dynamic, animal fury and out-of-body intensity of the music.
It was 1963 and we were competing in the Battle of the Bands with every other Michigan band to win the opening slot for the Supremes concert with the mighty Motown orchestra at the then brand-new Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit.
Our band won the competition because we maintained our focus, hard work ethic and dedication to delivering the absolute beast of all-American, high-energy rock ' n ' roll. And here I am rockin’ my balls off in 2025 the same damn way, and I have never looked back.
Unfortunately, all those amazing musicians, all of whom were far more talented on their instrument than young Ted, never made the big time, and I am here to tell you why.
How Nugent Stays In Tune With A Clear Head
Raised as a bowhunter, knowing that a supreme, higher level of awareness was essential to hopefully outsmart and outmaneuver an elusive, maniacally alert whitetail deer on our annual family hunting trips, there was no room for error, even under the best of conditions.
The parallel of reasoning between wild predator alertness and musical communication alertness was obvious to me from the very beginning. As my musician friends stumbled into the laughable peer pressure of drugs and alcohol, I sadly witnessed their musical fire, passion, sensibilities, spirit of adventure and drive for perfection, not to mention the most basic human communication skills, crumble exponentially.
We are all well aware of the many phenomenal musicians that achieved mega-success and created some of the most inspiring, compelling, enriching and genius music ever while in the cloud of substance abuse, but I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that clean and sober and dedication to absolute excellence is the ultimate path to true happiness and true physical, mental and spiritual fulfillment.
Joe Perry and Steven Tyler were hanging on for dear life as I throttled my big, bad Ford Bronco helter skelter through the thick forests, swamps and neverlands of my sacred Michigan hunting grounds. We were on a scenic off-road cruise in between concerts together, and I was proudly showing them my accumulated wildlands acreage of the Nugent homestead.
As we bounced, banged and lurched in and out, up and down the challenging terrain, I showed them my self-planted forests, beautiful marshlands, crops, rivers and lakes, and pointed out the awesome wildlife habitat that landowners, farmers and sportsmen take such great pride in.
We were having one hell of a grand time, and Steven blurted out, “.... you own all this? This is amazing! I wish I had a place like this!”
I responded instantly, “Hell, man, you snorted and drank 10 of ’em!”
We all laughed, but it was true.
Ted Nugent’s Lessons Learned
I admit that I got crazy lucky, rocking my ass off touring the world in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and right up to this very day. But my real stroke of lifesaving luck was my decision to remain clean and sober for the music, my hunting, my oneness with God’s miraculous creation, the outdoor conservation lifestyle and just untold lessons learned from the stoners and drunks that died or faded away way too early and wasted so much precious time, energy and money on what is nothing more than poison and life-destroying bullshit.
I mentioned to my band just today how I have never spent one hard-earned dime on alcohol, drugs, tobacco, aftershave, dry-cleaning, strippers, porn, cologne, tattoos, bling, fashion, ties, suits or any garbage non-food.
I performed my 6,990th insane high-energy rock out just this week (best damn guitar tone and tightest, fun music ever!) and will break 7,000 before the hunting season 2025!
Nugent’s Idea Of 24/7 Happy Hour
I do celebrate that so many good people, good friends and fellow musicians and hunting buddies have faced the inescapable truth and reality that clean and sober is the only way to achieve true happiness and optimal connections with the people in our lives.
Some have falsely claimed that the old Detroit guitarboy, the Motor City Madman, Mr. whack ’em and stack ’em Uncle Ted doesn’t party. Oh, believe me when I tell you how I do indeed party hearty!
But a Ted Nugent party does not include drooling, puking, stumbling, arguing, blundering, fighting or making an ass of oneself.
I party every day of my blessed American Dream life in one way or another, and my parties include campfires, jam sessions, grilling sacred flesh, laughter, positive energy, positive spirit, target practice and shooting competition, barking dogs, more laughter and very happy, upbeat, clean and sober family and friends.
When clean and sober, we are solidly in the asset column for our loved ones and everyone else. When drunk or stoned, you are rock solid in the liability column, providing no support or benefit for anyone. I believe that with all my heart and soul.
I have convinced so many of this reality, and to the man and woman, they have thanked me and upgraded their overall quality of life and the quality of life of everyone around them.
It’s easy! It’s good! It’s way more fun, I assure you. Comfortably numb is actually uncomfortably dumb, and nobody benefits.
Let us raise a toast, an uplifting toast of spring water or some other natural beverage, to a better life.
Clean and sober, baby! It’s the ultimate!
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