Leif Garrett, a former teen idol, experienced a terrible downfall in his life. See how he looks like today at his 61…

Leif Garrett began his career as a child actor before transitioning to music in the 1970s, when he began to win the hearts of young girls.

Leif’s image could be seen on every teen magazine cover at the checkout counters, according to my mother, who claimed to have noticed this when she and her parents went to the grocery store.

The 1969 movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, which ended up being the sixth highest-grossing movie of the year,

featured the American singer-actor who was 5 years old at the time. He was born in Hollywood, California.

The sleepy-eyed, flaxen-haired hottie then starred in Walking Tall and its two sequels after that.

He appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders in 1983 alongside several other teenage heartthrobs, such as Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Cruise.

Fans went wild when he sang covers of well-known songs like The Wanderer (Dion), Surfin’ USA (The Beach Boys),

and Paul Anka’s Put Your Head on My Shoulder on his debut album, Leif Garret, which was released in 1977.

The world was in Garrett’s hands. The blonde singer with scruffy hair went on tour throughout the world, and when his largely young female fans saw him, they immediately went wild.

In Sydney, Australia, where I was on a public appearance tour, they had to fly me in by helicopter before I hopped into an armored sedan and drove into the theater through the back door.

There, I’ve attempted to use a lim before, but the fans nearly knocked it down. They must be pushing their adrenaline, I suppose.

They simply panic. In 1979, Garrett told the New York Daily News, ‘It’s quite strange.’But despite the fact

that his music was on the verge of becoming a chart-topper, he had trouble with management who made him feel like a ‘fake.’

For Garrett, transitioning to maturity presented additional difficulties.In an interview, Garret commented, ‘I think I was a terrific performer from the beginning,

but I wish they had given me singing lessons before ever producing a record and doing the standard punching in a sentence here or there or words or anything.’

‘I Was Searching for Someone to Love’s particular track doesn’t even really sound like me. I might even claim that I wasn’t even on that course.

That, in my opinion, IS fraud. That’s basically a Milli Vanilli situation, with the obvious difference being that mine was repeatedly merged with me and another person.

After Garrett crashed a car and sent it careening down a hillside in North Hollywood while intoxicated and high,

rendering his then-close friend Ronald Winkler paraplegic, Garrett’s career began to decline.
For Garret, though, it wasn’t enough, and his life kept going worse.

With the legendary frontman of Queen, Freddie Mercury, who was at the time recording the enormously successful album The Game,

which featured the hits ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Another One Bites the Dust,’ Garret reveled in sex, drugs, and rock and roll in 1980,

a period he describes in his book as ‘the apex of pinup fame.’ Garrett claimed that after becoming acquainted

with the group, they gave him a glimpse of what it’s like to be a real rock star, complete with girlfriends and pills.

I don’t think I was a very mature 16-year-old, Garrett admitted in an interview with Fox for the publication of his memoir, Idol Truth.

Because I was constantly around by adults who were drinking and doing coke, I became mature really rapidly.

Despite being a child, I was treated like an adult. And I paid for it all out of my pocket.
I probably have the biggest fan base I could possibly envision for myself, he continued.

Through thick and thin, they have been at my side. And as you are aware, I have put myself in a lot of uncomfortable circumstances.

There were many poor choices made. Yet, I wasn’t receiving the parental counsel I should have at the time.

Garret has been charged with numerous offenses. He left treatment and had several run-ins with the law.

Garrett put a lot of effort into trying to climb back to the top, but eventually he went back to his old ways.

Garrett was chosen to offer commentary on the comedy program World’s Dumbest, which profiles the ‘most wonderfully stupid’ offenders, as a result of his amusing run-ins with the authorities.

Several famous people with a history of misadventures were also featured on the program, including Todd Bridges, Tonya Harding, Gary Busey, and Danny Bonaduce.

Then Garrett received a major position on the VH1 program Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which he had no desire to be a part of.

Garrett said that the program caused him to relapse for drama, however VH1 categorically refuted this claim.

Garrett stated: ‘They asked to acquire some footage of me using, and I answered, ‘I haven’t been using,’

in an interview with the LA Times. We absolutely need to acquire video of you using, they said. Nonetheless, I was persuaded easily to show them.

Garrett left the show after a counselor for the production called him out and implied he was still using. He said: ‘This is insanity and quite honestly I don’t appreciate it.’

Leif Garrett is thankfully sober today.

‘I served a 90-day county jail sentence. Prior to that, I was in court-ordered rehab. When my mother visited,

she informed me that she had stage IV lung cancer. Nobody lives with her, so I said, ‘I’m leaving to take care of her.’

I resumed using as a result of that. Therefore, ‘Cuff him, bring him in,’ I completed the 90 days, and that was it,’ the man claims.

The former teen star said that he is still very appreciative of all of his admirers.

According to Garrett, who spoke with Closer, ‘I’ve kept every photo or letter a young lady sent, informing me about being on their walls and kissing me good night before they went to bed.’

It’s a little humiliating and surreal, but how flattering! I can’t express how grateful I am that I can still work at something I love and get paid for it because of [my fans].

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *