WHAT HAPPENED
Belinda Carlisle says a low point in a London hotel room in 2005 helped trigger her decision to get sober. In an interview published by The Age’s sister title Brisbane Times on 11 November 2026, Carlisle said she was in the midst of a cocaine binge when she experienced an auditory hallucination that convinced her she would die in a hotel room if she continued. The article says she then entered a 12-step recovery program and has been clean since. ([brisbanetimes.com.au](https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/culture/music/alone-in-her-hotel-belinda-carlisle-thought-she-was-dying-what-happened-next-changed-her-life-20261111-p61all.html?utm_source=openai))

Carlisle, now 68, also told the paper that sobriety has changed how she approaches performance, saying she feels more connected to audiences and more comfortable on stage. The interview was timed to her planned Australian farewell run, billed as her “G’day and Goodbye” tour, which the article says has expanded to 10 shows because of demand. ([brisbanetimes.com.au](https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/culture/music/alone-in-her-hotel-belinda-carlisle-thought-she-was-dying-what-happened-next-changed-her-life-20261111-p61all.html?utm_source=openai))

WHY IT MATTERS
Carlisle is one of the defining pop figures of the 1980s, first with The Go-Go’s and then as a solo artist. The Brisbane Times article notes that she is ending large-scale touring while continuing to record, and that sobriety has become central to both her personal life and her creative work. Her comments also underline a wider pattern in the article: a long career once shaped by addiction has given way to a later phase defined by recovery, meditation and live performance. ([brisbanetimes.com.au](https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/culture/music/alone-in-her-hotel-belinda-carlisle-thought-she-was-dying-what-happened-next-changed-her-life-20261111-p61all.html?utm_source=openai))

WHO SHOULD CARE
Fans of The Go-Go’s and Carlisle’s solo catalogue will be interested in the timing of her farewell shows and her comments about the future of her touring. Industry watchers and readers interested in recovery stories may also note how Carlisle describes sobriety as improving her relationship with performing, rather than ending it. ([brisbanetimes.com.au](https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/culture/music/alone-in-her-hotel-belinda-carlisle-thought-she-was-dying-what-happened-next-changed-her-life-20261111-p61all.html?utm_source=openai))

WHAT AIM IS WATCHING
AIM will be watching whether Carlisle follows through on her stated plans to keep making albums while reducing touring, and whether the farewell Australian dates become a final major run or a prelude to smaller appearances. We are also watching how her recovery narrative is reflected in future interviews and performances, given the prominence it now has in her public story. ([brisbanetimes.com.au](https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/culture/music/alone-in-her-hotel-belinda-carlisle-thought-she-was-dying-what-happened-next-changed-her-life-20261111-p61all.html?utm_source=openai))