The Aussie singer and father of three tells Woman’s Day how he battled drugs, depression and cheating rumours and came out on top.
Since injuring his back in 2012 while chopping wood, Shannon Noll has become a changed man. Suffering from excruciating pain, Shannon found it hard to focus on anything else, including his beautiful family that surrounded him a in their gorgeous country setting.
“I never understood the process of depression until then,” admits Shannon, 38. “I loved the view but it didn’t make me feel nice anymore.I felt nothing but frustration, anger and fear.”
Before his accident, Shannon was enjoying life on the four hectare Victorian property where he grew up. Wanting his kids to have a similar upbringing, Shannon moved his family including his wife Rochelle, and kids Cody, 13, Blake, 11, and little Sienna, 7, from Sydney when the GFC hit and tour dates dried up.
“I love the outdoors and the girls both love horses. Rochelle told me she never liked boys when she was growing up, just horses, so I said, ‘Quick, let’s get Sienna a horse!’” he laughs.
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But despite his family’s happiness, Shannon’s accident sparked a depression for the singer, dredging up old memories of a time when he became hooked on drugs and alcohol following the death of his father in 2001.
“I was drinking and smoking [marijuana] every day,” he says. “It was a way of pushing my feelings down and not dealing with the problems.”
Shannon says reflecting on that time helped him to avoid slipping into a deeper depression this time.
“It’s really tough living on a farm and I can understand why bush suicide rates are high,” he says.
“I was feeling very lost and scared but I was lucky enough to have support so I called a family meeting and asked Rochelle and the kids what they thought of moving back to Sydney.
“Living on the farm was great but it almost felt like retirement. I missed the warmer weather and I just felt I needed to get back out there for my music.”
Rochelle says she knew her husband needed help.
“I had to stay positive to try to keep him positive, and I knew going back to Sydney would be good for him,” she says.
So the family packed up and returned to Sydney, moving to the Sutherland Shire, where the kids settled into school and Shannon’s new single We Only Live Once made it to number one on the iTunes video charts.
“I’m really stoked,” he says. “And I’m passionate about what I’ve put together. I read about bands that had to reinvent themselves and now I understand why they did it.
“I looked at trends and, with help from the kids, came up withWOLO. It’s a really great message – don’t take things for granted and live each day as if it’s your last.”
Read more, including how Rochelle feels about Shannon featuring former Miss Australia Renae Ayris in his new video clip, in this week’s Woman’s Day, on sale Monday August 4, 2014.
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