Patrick Freyne: The Aslan frontman had remained a stalwart of Ireland’s music scene despite his extensive medical treatment
They worked hard at it. When this writer was in a band in the early part of this century, every time we played a small Irish town it seemed like Aslan had just played or were about to play there. Their attraction had a lot to do with the emotional honesty inherent in Dignam’s intense stage presence and clear, richly textured singing voice.
And it was some life. He had seen huge ups and downs as a musician, from big record deals to near penury. He was a heroin addict who fell in and out of addiction before getting clean once and for all in the mid noughties. He was always honest about his darker life experiences and documented the upsetting details in his autobiography, My Crazy World .
Dignam, who released his first solo record, the aptly titled The Man Who Stayed Alive, in 2021, believed his issues with addiction were rooted in the sexual abuse he experienced from two neighbours when he was a young child. He had huge empathy for addicts and marginalised people, and disliked the classist way they were often stigmatised and mocked. He believed most addicts were trying to address some loss or trauma.
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