David Cassidy: ‘Alcohol was not to blame for concert stage fall’

Veteran singer/actor David Cassidy’s dementia battle has made him self-conscious about appearing in public because he worries fans will think he has relapsed.
The former The Partridge Family star was recently diagnosed with the memory loss condition, clearing up speculation surrounding his past alcohol issues.
Many felt drink was to blame for a headline-grabbing performance in Agoura, California last month (Feb17), when Cassidy slurred through his set at The Canyon Club, forgot the lyrics to a number of his hit songs and reportedly fell offstage.
After video of the performance appeared online, Cassidy, who has battled alcohol abuse for several years, came clean about his condition and now insists alcohol was not to blame.
“I certainly wasn’t intoxicated, and it has nothing to do with why I’m leaving (the industry and touring),” he told U.S. talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw in an interview which is slated to air in America on Wednesday (01Mar17). “Certainly, my dementia has contributed to the reason why I don’t want to go out, and I don’t want to hear, ‘Well, he looked like he was drunk…’ I wasn’t.”
Cassidy reveals he started experiencing memory loss issues over two years ago and he worried he was facing the same fate as his mother and grandfather.
“When friends of yours or family members begin to say to you, ‘Remember, I just told you this two days ago’, and there’s no memory of it, that’s when I began to be very concerned,” he says.