The Lumineers' latest album III explores addiction from different perspectives, so it's fitting the band would lend its song, "Salt and the Sea," to a Partnership to End Addiction campaign. The band's cofounder Jeremiah Fraites has also personally experienced both losing someone to addiction and becoming sober himself, and he shared a story on the band's Instagram.
"This campaign hit close to home," he wrote alongside a clip of the commercial. "I lost my older brother Joshua to a heroin drug overdose when he was just 19 years old back in 2001. I was only 14 at the time, essentially having to grow up overnight after a life-changing event like that. To steal the words from Gabor Mate, we shouldn't be asking: 'why the addiction?' but rather, 'why the pain?'"
"Fast forward 15 years and there I was making the decision myself to become sober from alcohol," Fraites continued. "I have my wife @francesca_laz to thank for that - she said ‘don’t do it for me, but do it for yourself.’ I wanted to share this anecdote with you because I know someone out there reading this right now is struggling and going through a hard time. I wanted to share this with you because whatever reason you’re going to give to get sober, just make it a damn good one."
See The Lumineers' post below.
Photo: Getty Images