I have been in the music business for a while and I know many, many artists ... Brilliant people who make brilliant art. Most have addiction problems. Guess what? The ones who actually make a living for the long-term and are "famous" are the ones who got sober and do not tolerate active users on their teams (yes, it takes a small village to do anything in the entertainment industry)
Your friend can make all the excuses and rationalizations he wants - when it is a problem it will be a problem. Simple as that. Only we know when that moment comes, and clearly his moment has not arrived. Perhaps it never will. But yours did and I'm proud of you for doing something about it! Stay strong and remember you are not alone. I guarantee you there is at least one person on SR at any given time who can relate to each of us no matter what we do for a living or how bad our alcoholism might be. Draw on the knowledge of others and keep fighting because it is so worth it!!!