page_title: Craig Nicholls
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Craig Nicholls / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: Craig Nicholls, lead singer of the band The Vines.
context_page_description: Craig Robert Nicholls is an Australian musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the Australian alternative rock band The Vines, of which he is the only mainstay member.
context_section_description: By 2002, Nicholls had gained a reputation as an erratic performer. In August, The Vines performed "Get Free" on Late Show with David Letterman, with Nicholls trashing Hamish Rosser's drum kit. In December, they were prevented from performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after Nicholls damaged the set during a rehearsal. His behaviour was seen as "a sign of stress and mental exhaustion".
  In May 2004, The Vines appeared at a promotional show for Triple M radio, where Nicholls bleated at the audience and demanded they not talk during the band's performance. When he heard a laugh, he said to the crowd, "Why the fuck are you laughing? You're all a bunch of sheep. Can you go baa?" An official photographer, Janie Barrett, snapped a picture of Nicholls, who allegedly kicked out at her, smashing her camera. As a result, Matthews left the stage and quit on the spot, later joining Youth Group. He would not perform with The Vines again for another 14 years. Triple M subsequently banned the group's music from being broadcast by their station. Further performances on their Australian, United States, and European tours to promote their second album, Winning Days, were cancelled.
  In November 2004, accompanied by his brother Matt and his manager and friend Andy Kelly, Nicholls faced assault and malicious damage charges at Balmain Local Court in Sydney. During the ten-minute hearing, it was revealed that Nicholls has Asperger syndrome. His condition had been suspected by road crew veteran Tony Bateman, who felt there was something clinically different with Nicholls and downloaded information about Asperger syndrome, which he handed over to Kelly. Professor Tony Attwood, an autism spectrum disorders specialist, confirmed the diagnosis after seeing Nicholls and his family in August. The judge dropped all charges against Nicholls on the condition that he seek immediate treatment. Nicholls yelled "I'm free!" upon leaving the courthouse. He was under medical treatment and therapy for six months, and stopped his intake of fast food and cannabis. He spoke about his condition in subsequent interviews.
  In November 2008, The Vines cancelled shows in Australia and Japan, as Nicholls' mental health had deteriorated over the previous month, and he required further help. Nicholls was arrested on 13 October 2012 at his Sydney home on allegations he had assaulted his parents, and injured a responding police officer as he resisted arrest. He appeared before a judge at Sutherland Local Court on 17 October 2012, where a trial date of 14 November was set. The charges include "two counts of domestic assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stalking and resisting arrest".
  In a 2014 Rolling Stone Australia article, Nicholls revealed that he had moved back into the family home in 2013 after receiving "medical intervention". On the subject of his mental health, he said:
  I have been out of my mind a couple of times in my life ... To me, that's just what I'm like. When I was younger it seemed cool to be crazy. I'm not trying to be crazy now. I'm trying to be normal. What's important to me is my family and making the albums.
  In an August 2014 interview with the DIY publication, Nicholls explained that he manages his condition by rarely socialising, stating, "I'm just following my instincts so... that's alright." During the same interview, he also revealed that he shuns 21st-century technology, such as smartphones and computers, as he prefers to minimise his responsibilities to live "like a kid". Nicholls maintained that music has "really been the thing that saved me".
caption: Nicholls with The Vines in March 2004
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