The shock-rock icon has recalled how his doctor warned he only had weeks to live if he didn't stop drinking, after he'd started throwing up blood in 1982.

Until that point he'd been the leader of the Vampires, who met in the Rainbow Bar And Grill in Hollywood and included Keith Moon, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and others. Most of them had passed away by the time he went to the doctor.

Cooper tells Rolling Stone: "He told me, 'If you want to join your buddies, I'll give you another month. Just keep going how you're going and you'll be with them.'