The 67-year-old rocker has revealed he doesn't regret his years of being addicted to alcohol because coming out of it made him feel like a much stronger person.

Asked what advice he would give to his younger self, he said: ''I'll tell you the truth, I always think I would say, 'Wow, don't become an alcoholic.' But then, going through that alcoholic experience, especially with those guys, was an education. The fact that I did get through it and came out the other end okay, was something that gave me a lot of strength later on. I figured if I could get through that ... Because I was a classic alcoholic - there was pretty much nothing that was going to stop us at that point.''

However, The Hollywood Vampires' musician - who will release their new album on September 11 - revealed he was faced by an ultimatum at the peak of his drinking which led to his decision to quit so he could continue making music.

He told Digital Spy entertainment news website: ''It was a choice between living and dying, and my doctor said, 'Look, you can go and join the rest of the Vampires who have gone, or you can make 20 more albums. You better make your decision in three weeks though, because that's how much time you have.' I made the decision that I'd rather make records. The finality of that is that it's very poetic that I decided not to die with the other guys, and end up honouring them through this album. So there was a two-fold reason to quit drinking.''