FAIRHOPE, Alabama – Eighteen graduates of Baldwin County Drug Court will celebrate sobriety with rock & roll royalty this week. Brian “Head” Welsh, who won two Grammy awards with the hard rock band Korn, will be the keynote speaker at a ceremony at Church of the Eastern Shore Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m.

“I deliver this message almost every weekend,” Welsh said of his speaking engagements. “I’ll basically be telling my life story.”

A native of Bakersfield, Calif., Welsh was a founding member of Korn, whose 1998 album “Follow the Leader” debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 260,000 units sold. The album included the song “Freak on a Leash,” which won a 1999 Grammy award for Best Music Video and has since sold more than 5 million units. Their fifth studio album, “Untouchables,” spawned the song “Here to Stay,” which won a 2003 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance.

Welsh left the band in 2005 to cope with a methamphetamine habit and in the process devoted his life and work to Christianity.

“There were so many reasons,” Welsh left Korn, he said. “I didn’t like myself anymore, I didn’t like the music. I realized that I shared a dysfunctional relationship with the people I grew up with.”

In 2008 he released a solo album and autobiography both entitled, “Save Me From Myself,” and has since recorded an album with a new band, The Whosoevers. The single “Paralyzed” was released last month and he is preparing for an album release and tour at the end of the year.

Despite his fame and fortune, Welsh said he can relate to anyone who has overcome a serious substance abuse problem. “A rock star can get away with a lot, including being a loser,” Welsh said. “When I decided to quit, it was because I wanted change. I was accountable to no one except my daughter.”

Welsh implied that having money doesn’t make addiction any less painful. “I still went to drug houses and hung out with low-lives. It’s not like anyone was catering to me.”

The Baldwin County Drug Court was founded in October 2007, noting that as many as 66 percent of the crimes committed in Baldwin County have some relationship to drugs or alcohol. The purpose of the drug court program is to promote justice and uniformity of judicial proceedings and decisions within Baldwin County as well as provide cohesive educational and rehabilitative efforts to meet the needs of those with drug and alcohol addiction to reduce future criminal conduct and return people to normal, productive lives. Eighty people have successfully completed the program and have not been charged with any other crimes in the Alabama State Judicial System.

“We felt like [Welsh] had a message that our graduates could relate to,” said Raina Macks, who in her role drug court coordinator booked Welsh for this year’s graduation. “In his testimony, Brian addresses the consuming affects that drugs had on his life and the freedom he found through a relationship with God to battle his addiction. We feel the graduates and older youth groups would thoroughly enjoy and benefit from this presentation.”

The Baldwin County Drug Court Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit venture by Judge Robert Wilters, Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack, Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon, Chief Drug Court Contract Counsel, Baldwin County Bar Association, Baldwin County Mental Health, Baldwin County Court Services, Inc., and The Shoulder to supplement the educational and rehabilitative efforts and goals of the Baldwin County Drug Court by providing resources for and promoting activities of the Baldwin County Drug Court.

Thursday’s graduation is open to the public and the $15 tickets will be available at the door. Copies of Welsh’s albums and book will available at the event.

Brian Welsh's official website