MÖTLEY CRÜE's NIKKI SIXX Celebrates 19 Years Of Sobriety

Nikki Sixx is celebrating the 19th anniversary of his getting sober.

The 61-year-old MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist credited the 12-Step program with helping him live his life without drugs or alcohol.

Earlier today (Thursday, July 2),he shared an image revealing he had been sober for 19 years, 228 months, 6,941 days or 166,565 hours.

He wrote: "19 years of gratitude one day at a time...It is the road worth traveling if you are struggling. Old timers are here to guide us but new comers to sobriety are the greatest gift to this simple program.Of course it's not always easy. First thing I did and continue to do is cut toxic people outta my life,then comes the first step and then freedom ( If you work it).Even non addicts could use the 12 step program to better their lives.To me it's a life program. I am a better man, father, husband, friend, band mate and creative spirit because of this program.#SoberBirthday I LOOK UP EVERYDAY AND SAY THANK YOU"

Sixx struggled with substance abuse for years and was even supposedly declared clinically dead after a heroin overdose in 1987 made his heart stop for two minutes. He has since become actively involved in a recovery "program," which he credits for helping him transform his life and relationships.

"By letting go of self and ego, working a program that connects you to a higher power and giving back to those still struggling are just some of the important things you learn through sobriety," Sixx wrote when he celebrated nine years of sobriety in July 2013. "You get to repair the damage done from drink, drugs and horrific behaviors (that broke people's hearts who loved you."

The rocker, who detailed his near-fatal drug addiction in the best-selling book "The Heroin Diaries", added: "For me, taking away the substance just gave [me] an honest view of who I had become and then the healing started. I do believe without any program to help, many are just dry drunks and there is always a danger of them going out again. I've been there. It's not pretty. This is no joking matter to me, so I take it seriously."

Asked by The Guardian about a diary entry in "The Heroin Diaries" where he described himself as an "alcoholic heroin and coke addict getting into pills" and how he spent Christmas Day 1986 naked under the Christmas tree, clutching a shotgun, Nikki said: "Well, if you shoot enough cocaine, you go into a kind of psychosis, and I believed people were coming to get me. Scary place, let me tell you. It reads like some kind of a dark horror story or bedtime thriller. But in real life, the trauma that psychosis puts your body through is on a cellular level. You believe that you’re going to have an experience even though it’s not really happening. I can remember those, because you come out of them, and it's scary. But you can only imagine what it would be like to be insane and not come out of it, or a version of that, like dementia."

Sixx is not the only member of MÖTLEY CRÜE who has battled alcohol addiction. Singer Vince Neil's 1984 drunk-driving accident killed HANOI ROCKS drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley and seriously injured two others. He spent 15 days in jail and received five years probation.

"It was rough for everybody after that accident," Neil told USA Today last year. "I tried to stay sober for a few years, but it's tough when there's no support system around you. They were still doing coke and drinking and carrying on, and I just couldn't be a part of it."