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CBN.com – “I had this idea of what a rock star was. And as I got closer to it, I saw the work that was involved. I also got to see firsthand the demons that were involved with it, the vices and the things that are there to bring you down,” says Kevin Kyle.
The electrifying world of rock and roll captivated Kevin. At the height of his music career, he played guitar for stars like Cher and Tina Turner.
Kevin fell in love with the guitar at an early age. He explained which musicians inspired him.
"Well, in the beginning, Jimi Hendrix. He was the guy that did it for me," Kevin says. "Then, in 1980, I was introduced to Randy Rhodes, and that just lit me up. “
When he was 15, Kevin signed on as a roadie for the heavy metal group, Madame X. With his parents’ permission, he followed the band to Los Angeles. It was the chance he’d been waiting for.
Ever since he was a kid, Kevin had big dreams of becoming a rock and roll star. And he hoped the guitar would get him there. But when he entered the music scene, what he discovered would nearly destroy him.
“It was all about the party and music was second,” Kevin recalls. “Sex, drugs, alcohol - it was everywhere. It was everywhere. Most of the time you didn’t even have to ask for it; it was just right there for you.”
"At first it’s shocking, but then you just get numb. It’s just the way it is," he says.
The people Kevin worked with gave the teen all the liquor he wanted and he began drinking everyday.
He just floated through life drunk.
"Wake up in the morning – beer. Didn’t matter if it was 5 in the morning; didn’t matter it was noon. The first thing I did was crack open a Budweiser," Kevin says.
During that time, Kevin played with a string of rock bands. In the mid-‘80s, he formed his own group, Shaman. After four years, the band broke up. By then Kevin’s drinking was dangerously out of control.
“I’m not one of those people who can separate the work from the party. I knew I had to get away from it, or it was going to kill me,” he says.
Kevin left L.A. and deserted any hopes of making it big in music.
“I ran to my brothers in Kalamazoo, Mich.,” he explains. “Only problem was, you can’t outrun alcohol. It follows you.”
And it did right into his first marriage. Kevin was charged with two DUIs in the same year. He spent six months in jail on a probation violation, and his wife filed for divorce. Desperate and alone, Kevin reached out to God. He began attending worship service behind bars. He accepted Christ and got baptized.
“It was amazing. I wish when I had got out, I wouldn’t have backslid,” he says.
But he did.
“I forgot all about Jesus,” Kevin says. “I didn’t care anymore. I thought, ‘This is the way I am. I’m stuck with it.’”
Kevin got another DUI and faced a three-year sentence. He was fed up with his life and decided to sober up, so he turned back to the only One who could help.
“Again the weight lifted off me, rededicating my life to Christ,” says Kevin.
And he asked God for one more thing.
Kevin recalls praying, “Lord, please take the desire for drugs and alcohol from me. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
That was August 29, 2004. Since then, Kevin has remained sober.
“When you detox from alcohol, when you’re hardcore like I was, bad things happen. I didn’t have hallucinations. I didn’t have shakes. I didn’t have tremors. That was it. I didn’t have any symptoms other than a little elevated blood pressure. And that was amazing. I know that was God. I know it was God. It couldn’t have been anything else,” he says.
And God has given him a second chance at love. He married Cindy in 2006.
“He gave me a wonderful wife that I met here in church, just the greatest woman you could ever ask for,” Kevin says. “I have the most blessed life now that you could ever imagine.”
Today his passion for music is wrapped up in his love for God. He leads worship every Sunday and joined a Christian band called Evermore.
"I’ve never had more fun in my entire life. If you had told me 25 years ago that you could have fun being sober living for God, I would have said you’re crazy. But it’s true. It’s true. It’s such a blessing," he says.
For Kevin, rediscovering life, music, and a loving marriage is nothing short of amazing.
“He gave me a second chance. He said I will bless you beyond measure. And I am blessed beyond measure,” Kevin explains.
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