In Hollywood, there are a few who gain fame at an early age. And as they garner love from their fans and millions of dollars in their bank balance, they find themselves drowning in addiction and evil habits. They get devoured by the fame monster and live that way the rest of their life. Jason Donovan could have been one of them, though thankfully he is not.
The Australian singer and songwriter had a serious drug problem at a very tender age and took two grams of cocaine per day. During model Kate Moss’ birthday party back in 1995, the singer suffered a drug-induced seizure. According to his autobiography, Between The Lines: My Story Uncut which was published in 2007, he revealed how his mother, Sue Mclntosh ended her marriage with his actor father and turned her back away, not just from her husband but also from Donovan himself when he was merely a child.
The singer admits that he had an extremely troublesome past. Despite being a popular actor and a teenage heartthrob, the actor turned singer struggled hard to achieve what he has today and to be where he is now. Besides being left by his own mother the actor, was ditched by his then girlfriend and co-star of his former Australian soap opera Neighbours, Kylie Minogue. He went through a rollercoaster ride of family problems, drug addiction, relationship issues and many more. But it was his current wife and life partner who helped him out of the hell hole he was in.
The singer who dubbed himself as a ‘survivor’ in his autobiography, looks back at his early days and reminiscences the things that happened then. He says that he was the kind of a guy who used to party hard and didn’t come home for several days.
"In those days of self-indulgence in the Nineties, I'd party hard and not come home for a few days, but even during those times I was conscientious about work. I'm a perfectionist at heart so I never ever mixed those two parts of my life. Of course, I wish I'd done things differently then, but I think, in a way, going through that made me stronger and probably a bit more interesting," the Especially For You hit maker says.
He says that his wife, Angela was his savior. He met her while performing in The Rocky Horror Show in 1998 where she was a stage manager. It was with through her profound support that he left all the bad habits and memories behind. Now, the couple has three children, Jemma, Zach, and Molly.
Jason remembers he upbringing. He was raised by his father, Terence Donovan who was also an actor. His parents divorced when he was only five. He does not recall seeing his mother very often during his childhood. He says: "During my childhood, the closest woman in my life was my grandmother, so I think I needed a strong woman and I was lucky enough to finally find Angela. I'm married to, and in love with, my best friend.
"She's my backbone, has a strong moral compass, gives me gravity and I respect her. I do everything to look after my 'nest': her and the children."
The singer and actor achieved fame in the music industry in 1988 after his debut album Ten Good Reasons sold more than 1.5 million copies in UK alone and became the highest selling album of 1989. He gave four UK No. 1 hit songs. Besides music, he has made his appearances on stage musicals like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Sweeney Todd. He also played the role of Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist, in the stage production of The King's Speech.
Having a wife like Angela and three angelic children seems to have really made impact on his career. The successful singer can hardly imagine him out of the troubles and addiction with them.
"Having children completes the circle of life. They're wonderful and mean more to me than any gold records or fame. They've taught me patience, unselfishness and how to give love and understanding unconditionally."
The actor also feels proud to have a perfect family and career, unlike several other Hollywood celebs.
"The greatest thing about my story is that I know what I don't want to do in life, whereas some people get to 40 and just go for it, marriages break up and there's a bit of chaos. I got all that out of my system years ago and I'm happy to be at home with my kids, watching TV, and not going out getting hammered. I'm certainly not planning a mid-life crisis," he says.
The Too Many Broken Hearts singer adds: "I believe everything happens for a reason and you just have to keep moving forward.”
The proud father and a husband is preparing himself for his UK tour 'Ten Good Reasons & Greatest Hits: Jason Donovan', from February to May next year, which he is promoting on Twitter.