Van Zandt was addicted to heroin and alcohol throughout his adult life. At times he would become drunk on stage and forget the lyrics to his songs. At one point, his heroin habit was so intense that he offered Kevin Eggers the publishing rights to all of the songs on each of his first four albums for $20.
[38] At various points, his friends saw him shoot up not just heroin, but also
cocaine, vodka, as well as a mixture of
rum and Coke.
[39] On at least one occasion, he shot up heroin in the presence of his son J.T., who was only eight years old at the time.
[21]
As a result of Van Zandt's constant drinking, Harold Eggers, Kevin's brother, was hired on as his tour manager and 24-hour caretaker in 1976, a partnership that would last for the rest of the singer's life. Although the musician was many years older than he was, Eggers would later say that Van Zandt was his "first child."
[38] His battles with addiction led him to be admitted to rehab almost a dozen times throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
[40] Medical records from his time in recovery centers show that he believed his drinking had become a problem around 1973, and by 1982 he was drinking at least a
pint of
vodka daily.
