Rob Lowe Details ‘Final Wake-Up Call’ That Led to Sobriety

Rob Lowe revealed to People the tragic “final wake-up call” that led him to get sober.

Calling his journey to sobriety an “incremental decision,” Lowe explained he first realized something needed to change in 1988, when an infamous sex tape featuring the star and two women (one just 16 years old) was leaked to the public.

But his darkest point came after his grandfather suffered a heart attack in 1990. "I remember like it was yesterday,” the Parks and Rec actor said of hearing his mother’s panicked voice on his answering machine. “‘Pick up, pick up,’” she was saying, “because my grandpa had had a heart attack. I couldn't deal with it in the state I was in, and I needed to go to sleep to wake up so I could deal with it."

Lowe went to bed, but kept drinking tequila through the night. "Who doesn’t keep a bottle of Cuervo Gold by their bedside table?” he joked. “That was the final wake-up call. I’ve been sober ever since."

Once he realized he had a drinking problem, Lowe went all in on curing himself of the disease. "I didn't have any doubts [and] I wasn't like, well, maybe I'll be sober for a little bit," he explained.

Lowe immediately checked himself into rehab, a stay which he described as “relieving” because he was “so ready” to move beyond his partying days.

“I learned the tools to change your life if you have the self-honesty to do it," Lowe said. "You only are going to stop when you're ready, period."