Mac DeMarco Has Quit Smoking

He's also sober now

Photo: Danny Cohen

BY Allie GregoryPublished May 8, 2023

Goodbye, Viceroy: maybe-millionaire musician Mac DeMarco is going straight. Rather, he's going "free" — free of nicotine, caffeine, cold foods (?) and alcohol.

The notoriously ciggie-obsessed musician revealed that he's getting clean in his 30s and trying to stick just to what he needs. "Haven't had any nicotine in about a little over a year now," DeMarco revealed in a new interview with the Associated Press about his new 199-song album, One Wayne G, and Five Easy Hot Dogs.

"My journey with sobriety or whatever — I don't have a journey, that sounds a bit weird," he shared. "I'm not the most 'sober guy' sober guy, but I think I don't like being beholden to things like that. As humans, what are we? We gotta have water, you gotta have shelter, you gotta have food — that's enough things to be trapped by. I don't want to be trapped by alcohol. I don't want to be trapped by cigarettes.

"The real thing?" DeMarco continued. "I quit cigarettes and started vaping. That's a problem. Marlboro Reds? You can get them any… go to a little town in China somewhere, they're gonna have Marlboro Red. Juul? Mhmmm … I remember I crossed into Canada and everyone was like, 'Wow, you have a Juul, that's so rare and interesting' and I was like 'Noooo…' I don't want that, I want ease of life. All I need is that air I breathe and hot water, no cold water."

Check out the clip and revisit Mac's dart era by listening to "Ode to Viceroy" below.


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