As part of Rolling Stone‘s upcoming David Bowie tribute issue, Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has penned an essay remembering the late legend, from Reznor’s early worship of the singer to their time on tour together in the ’90s and finally his battle with sobriety that he says Bowie inspired.

“He was a tremendous inspiration in terms of what was possible, what the role of an entertainer could be, that there are no rules,” Reznor writes. When the two went on the road together, Reznor remembers how Bowie came into the tour not wanting to play his hits, only what he wanted to play. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow. I’m witnessing firsthand the fearlessness that I’ve read about,’” Reznor writes. “He did what he wanted to do. That made an impression. And I think about that anytime I’m going to ask for your attention or your money in some capacity.”

Reznor also tributes his sobriety in part to Bowie’s inspiration, regretting the state he was in during their co-tour. “When I met David, he had been through that. And he was content. He was at peace with himself,” Reznor writes. “There were a number of times where the two of us were alone, and he said some things that weren’t scolding, but pieces of wisdom that stuck with me: ‘You know, there is a better way here, and it doesn’t have to end in despair or in death, in the bottom.’

The essay ends with a touching anecdote about Reznor, now sober, apologizing to Bowie, who he calls “a mentor, fatherly figure,” for his behavior: “I started to say, ‘Hey listen, I’ve been clean for …’ I don’t even think I finished the sentence; I got a big hug. And he said, ‘I knew. I knew you’d do that. I knew you’d come out of that.’ I have goosebumps right now just thinking about it. It was another very important moment in my life.”