Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz Says 2023 Arrest 'Undoubtedly Saved My Life' After Mental Health Crisis
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The rocker — whose group announced a new album on Thursday — says he's fully recovered after a difficult year
Cage the Elephant frontman Matt Shultz is speaking out about the ways in which his 2023 arrest helped him turn his life around.
The “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” singer was arrested in January 2023 after three loaded guns were found in his New York City hotel room — and now, he says the incident helped him realize he was going through an “utter mental health crisis.”
“It’s a miracle that I’m here today. I was arrested last year, and it undoubtedly saved my life,” he wrote in a statement shared to Instagram Wednesday. “After my arrest, I went to the hospital for two months followed by months of outpatient treatment. I can finally explain what happened.”
Shultz, 40, wrote that over the last three years, he’d been “unknowingly fighting [his] way through an utter mental health crisis,” and that he’d “slipped into psychosis due to an iatrogenic response to a medication I was prescribed.” (Iatrogenic is an illness “induced unintentionally by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures,” according to Merriam-Webster).
Related: Cage the Elephant's Matt Schultz Arrested in New York, Charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon
“It took the love and support of my brothers in the band, my community, and, most of all, my wife Eva to get me through it. Eva stayed by my side, and she saved my life countless times. To say she is a warrior and a queen is an understatement,” Shultz wrote. “Her unwavering love coupled with professional treatment helped me to regain my grip on reality and fully recover. Along the way, I learned a lot of hard lessons, and I think God I was able to come out on the other side.
The musician added he was “humbled and grateful for the opportunity” to share his statement, and thanked his friends, family and Cage the Elephant bandmates for sticking by his side.
On Thursday, Cage the Elephant announced a new album, Neon Pill, is set for release on May 17. They also announced a 45-date North America tour.
Eva, who married Shultz in 2020, shared his statement to her Instagram Story and added, “I love you so much @matthewrayshultz.”
In November, she shared a post celebrating her husband’s accomplishments while revealing that they’d renewed their vows in New York City.
“I’m incredibly proud of Matt and all he has overcome this past year,” she wrote. “I’m blessed to call him my husband, to love and be loved by him. God works miracles and my faith was restored in love, my own life and hope for the future.”
Shultz reportedly accepted a plea deal in June in which he skirted jail time, but pleaded guilty to three charges: attempted criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon.
The New York Post reported that the singer was told by a judge to “stay out of trouble for one year,” and then he’d be able to wipe his slate clean of the two felony counts and instead be sentenced to “one-year conditional release for a misdemeanor charge.”
"Mr. Shultz has worked hard to put this isolated episode behind him and is appreciative of the opportunity to move forward in a positive manner,” his lawyer Sanford Talkin told PEOPLE in a statement at the time.
Cage the Elephant formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and earned Grammy awards for best rock album in 2017 and 2020.
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