Brand was born in Orsett Hospital, Grays, Essex, England, as the only child of Barbara Elizabeth (née Nichols) and Ronald Henry Brand, a photographer,[5] who had married six years earlier. Brand's parents separated when he was six months old, and he was raised solely by his mother; he would later explain he had a somewhat isolated and lonely childhood.[6] When Brand was seven, he was sexually abused by a tutor.[7] When Brand was eight, his mother had uterine cancer; a year later she had breast cancer. Brand stayed with relatives while his mother underwent treatment. When Brand was 14, he became bulimic. He left school and home at 16, at which time his mother had lymphoma and he did not get along with her live-in partner. He began taking drugs,[8] including: cannabis, amphetamines, LSD, ecstasy, cocaine, crack and heroin.[9] Brand stated during an interview on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday that he had "a strange relationship with his father, whom he saw sporadically and who took him to visit prostitutes during a trip to the Far East".[10] After Brand's parents divorced, his father remarried twice.
Bookmarks