Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee has opened up about the extent of his alcohol addiction before his recent spell in a rehab facility.

Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, Lee explained his history of being “on and off” substance dependance “for a long time,” including a previous four-year period of sobriety.

“I go through these phases where I just want to live a different life and fuck all the dumb shit,” the drummer said. “And then I decide, ‘You know what? I don’t want to live like that anymore.’”

Lee admitted that he particularly struggled after what was planned as Mötley Crüe’s last tour, saying he “literally did nothing” and would “just fucking drink.”

“I didn’t notice it until towards the end of it, when I was like, ‘Oh dude, I’ve got to stop. This is fucking insane.’ Like, I was drinking just out of boredom,” he added.

Detailing the height of his drinking routine, Lee said: “I would just wake up and be just building [a glass with] just all vodka and just a little eyedropper of cranberry or lemonade. I was drinking two gallons – not pints, not quarts, but gallons, the big-handles – a day.

“That’s fucking crazy. … I just realised, ‘Whoa dude, you’re drinking enough to like, you could probably die.’ And it wasn’t even fazing me. … I just became sort of immune to it.”

The musician said he checked into a rehab facility and has now been sober for one year, but still approaches sobriety as a day-by-day process. “I don’t know if it’s a forever thing, but for now, I’m not drinking vodka today,” he said.

Lee’s new album ‘Andro’ will be out on October 16, while Mötley Crüe’s reunion tour, alongside Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, has been pushed back to 2021.

For support with alcohol addiction in the UK, visit Drinkaware, Alcohol Change UK, or NHS alcohol addiction services