Lulu says she is no longer ashamed of her alcoholism, though she is not proud of it. Sober since 2013, she disclosed it publicly in her 2025 memoir, If Only You Knew, after decades of protecting her polished public image.
At a family gathering for her 65th birthday in 2013, Lulu admitted she had a drinking problem while her niece was talking about someone else struggling with alcohol. Within 24 hours, she entered Arizona's Meadows treatment center for six weeks; she then attended one or two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a day for five years.
She has described growing up in Glasgow with a father who drank heavily and abused her mother, saying the household's violence and unpredictability made her hypervigilant from a young age. Lulu has said she sees recovery as a way to break a pattern spanning generations and hopes speaking about addiction will help others recognize similar problems.
