Lifestyle Health Celebrity Health Tommy Lee Used to Drink 'Two Gallons of Vodka' a Day The Mötley Crüe drummer, who has been sober for a year, says the band partied so much in their heyday but eventually realized "someone's not going to wake up" By Cara Lynn Shultz Cara Lynn Shultz Cara Lynn Shultz is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. Her work has previously appeared in Billboard, Forbes, and Reader's Digest. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 17, 2023 03:50PM EDT Tommy Lee shared that back in his rock ‘n’ roll heyday as the drummer of Mötley Crüe, he used to “drink two gallons of vodka” a day. During an appearance Monday on Bill Maher’s podcast Club Random, Lee, 61, said he used to to drink “gallons, gallons, the big handle” of vodka, explaining that “alcohol is such a f---ing weird one, too, because, f---, it’s easy to fall in love with the way it makes you feel, where it makes you relax.” “And then all of a sudden you’re like, ‘F---, it’s amazing.’ I’m drinking two gallons of vodka a day where you’re trying to kill yourself now.” When Maher expressed his disbelief, Lee replied, “Two gallons a day, I swear to you, dude. I swear to God.” “Are you sure?” “Yeah, you can ask my wife,” Lee said about his wife, social media star Brittany Furlan, 37, whom he married in 2019. Tommy Lee on Bill Maher's Club Random. Club Random Podcast/YouTube Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. “For how long?” Maher asked. “F---, man. For a long time,” Lee replied. “I mean, your liver must be made of asbestos,” Maher said. Why Brittany Furlan Is Cool with Husband Tommy Lee Sharing NSFW Photos: 'Nudity Is Not a Big Deal' (Exclusive) Tommy Lee in 1997. Boston Herald/Shutterstock “That’s what I’m saying. I pinch myself on a daily basis,” Lee said. “I just did, like, the full-body scan where they do, say, head-to-toe everything. And I can’t believe that smoking, drinking, all the dumb s--- or the fun s--- that I’ve done…dude, the doctor was like, ‘You’re good.’” “I was like, 'Is that my name on there? Is there some Japanese guy in here that you have his results that you’re reading from? Because I find that f---ing impossible. This is impossible.'” Maher agrees, saying, “You don’t look like a person who lived a hard life.” “That’s wild,” Lee replied. “Your liver is on crutches at that point. It’s barely functioning,” Lee said about his vodka habit, which he says he stopped around 1990, when he and his bandmates decided to curb their partying ways. Tommy Lee. Jim Dyson/Getty “[We said] ‘OK, dude, someone’s going to not wake up one morning. Like, this is getting f---ing ridiculous, right? As a band, we stop.’” Drinking isn't all they did; Lee shared more of their infamous partying ways, as chronicled in the book The Dirt, which was made into a 2019 Netflix movie. “We would take handfuls” of pills," Lee said, “and pound a bottle of Jack [Daniels].” But it wasn’t until a year ago that Lee decided to get sober, telling Maher, “I just celebrated a year of sobriety.” Def Leppard Jokes Mötley Crüe Rocker Tommy Lee Smuggles 'Plants Now Instead of Cocaine' on Tour (Exclusive) But celebrating sobriety is a challenge, Lee said — and often pushes him to break his sobriety. “I make it a year, and then I’m so stoked that I made it a year that I celebrate,” Lee said. Maher replied, “That is peak rock star on so many levels,”