In the discussion with Dr. Phil, the 47-year-old rocker bluntly details when he hit rock bottom (at age 30 when his mother, who was confined to a wheelchair with Parkinson’s disease, turned up to care for him), that he began smoking pot in grade four, and how at one point in his addiction, he took ridiculous chances with his life not because he was suicidal but because he just didn’t care anymore.

Check out the clips below.

The Seattle-born McKagan’s transformation has been pretty remarkable: he has established himself as a celebrated writer penning columns on a variety of subjects for Seattle Weekly, Playboy and ESPN.com. 

A former high school drop-out, he attended Seattle University's Albers School of Business and Economics in the early 2000s, and subsequently founded the wealth management firm Meridian Rock.

McKagan has also been critical of shows like Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew – where his former GN’R bandmate, drummer Steven Adler has been admitted twice - saying “I think [that show] is the worst thing for so-called sobriety. 'Hold on, we're having a breakthrough . . . Wait, we've gotta do makeup.' You know?

"There's a reason it's anonymous, because if you fail, you're failing on camera.”