A STROUD busker who beat a crack cocaine addiction is releasing a charity single to compete for Christmas number one this Friday.

Laurie Wright, 29, who often plays near Stroud farmers’ market and in other areas around town, spent last Christmas in rehab, but since going cold turkey he’s racked up thousands of YouTube views and supported the Libertines in a virtual gig.

His new song, Cold Turkey on Christmas Day, is a light-hearted take on his struggle with addiction and homelessness from which all profits will go to Young Minds, a mental health charity, and to the homelessness charity Shelter.

“I want to raise money for Shelter to give back in some way for all I’ve taken over the years and to help the plight of the homeless,” said Laurie.

“My mental health was in tatters as a result of this too and it's often skirted over in the addiction debate. So I am raising money for Young Minds, having battered my young mind with drink and drugs through my teens and twenties.”

Cheltenham-born Laurie’s first addiction was to alcohol, which he had easy access to while playing gigs at pubs from the age of 15.

He was introduced to ecstasy when he played Glastonbury Festival a year later, before moving on to cocaine and crack.

“You’re place of work is a boozer. In no other job do you turn up and someone plonks a pint on your desk.”

“It was a tapestry of failure, missed opportunity, pain and a lot of death,” he said of the last decade.

In 2018, four of his close friends died of drink and drugs related accidents within six months.

He played music at their funerals and then got inebriated to cope with the pain.

“They were unlucky but it’s not that hard to be unlucky when you’re playing Russian roulette with large amounts of drugs and alcohol,” he said.

“It was intense going to funeral after funeral – it stops actually shocking you.

“You start to think, by the law of averages, me and my mates are next.”

So when Laurie’s parents sold his grandmother’s house and offered to help him go to rehab, he said he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

“I was just thankful I had the option when my friends didn’t,” said Laurie.

He attended a 12 Step programme in Banbury for 28 days over Christmas 2019, and has since recovered from his addiction.

“It helped me close a door on my past, on all the chaos and negativity. It was my saving grace," he said.

“There is a way out, for me it was the 12 Step route. That route isn’t for everyone but group therapy is amazing. I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone who is thinking about quitting.”

Cold Turkey on Christmas Day comes out on Friday and can be purchased on Amazon or Apple Music, or listened to on Spotify here.