Muse pressured bassist Chris Wolstenholme into getting help for his drinking problems by threatening to kick him out of the band if he didn't get his act together.

After years of watching Wolstenholme's alcohol addiction worsen, drummer Dominic Howard admits he and frontman Matt Bellamy staged an intervention and offered him an ultimatum of either getting clean or leaving the group.

Howard tells U.K. publication The Observer, "For some reason he could still play the bass, even though he was s**tfaced. He was drinking on stage. I started counting how many drinks he was having during the set and I could see him getting more and more glazed. By the point we came off stage he'd be f**ked. It just got too weird... A few times (we gave him an ultimatum)."

The bassist finally sought treatment in April, 2009.

He adds, "Everything I should have dealt with in the previous 10 years suddenly hit me in the face. There are some things I regret. There are probably moments I should have enjoyed more than I did and that's a bit upsetting. With the mess I was in you don't feel any intense emotion any more."

"You're just subdued all the time. But the upside of that is I'm enjoying it now. I threw myself into music in a way I hadn't done for 10 years. It sounds corny but it was the only thing that made me feel peaceful."

And the hitmaker feels lucky his bandmates stood by his side throughout the entire ordeal - Howard adds, "Chris now says things like, 'I can't believe they put up with me for 10 years'. Which is true. I can't believe we did. But we did. I've always believed in band integrity and sticking together."