Part 1

I had everything a young man could want… until one drink flipped my entire life upside down. Before addiction took over my life, I was a successful young man in the music business, and by 22 I was managing a world champion fighter. But around that same age, I crossed an invisible line into alcoholism—and everything changed.

Within months, I went from drinking alcoholically to trying cocaine, eventually shooting cocaine, smoking crack, and drinking nonstop. In 1989, I was diagnosed with HIV—initially misdiagnosed as AIDS. By 1990, I was living in and out of the subways of New York City, completely consumed by addiction. I tried for years to get sober—12 rehabs, 30+ detoxes, countless 12‑step meetings. Nothing worked.

Then on October 9, 2001, God did for me what I could never do for myself. I had a sudden, immediate s ...