Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes opens up about drug addiction and thanks fans for helping him through recovery

The vocalist said his fans, family and band members had stood by him as he accepted the APMA for Album of the Year

Oli Sykes of Bring Me the Horizon described the troubles he went through prior to writing 'Sempiternal' (Getty )

Many an acceptance speech has been used as a platform for stars to pour their hearts out – and Sheffield metalcore frontman Oli Sykes has become the latest musician to seize the opportunity.

After winning the APMA for Album of the Year, the Bring Me The Horizon vocalist thanked his fans for helping him through his drug addiction.

He described the troubled times he had gone through prior to the success of the winning Sempiternal.

Sykes said: "I want to say something that I thought I’d actually never talk about. Before we wrote Sempiternal I was a f***ing drug addict.

"I was addicted to a drug called ketamine; I was on it for years and I was f***ed off my head."

Sykes, 27, continued: "My band wanted to kill me, my parents wanted to kill me and my f***ing brother wanted to kill me; everyone wanted to f***ing kill me.

"But they didn’t. They stood by me, they supported me through all of that s***and we wrote Sempiternal because of it."

"No one f***ing knows this but I went to rehab for a month," Sykes said.

"And throughout that time, as well as my f***ing band and my family, you guys – you had no f***ing idea that I was in rehab – you were sending me letters, you were sending me texts, you were sending me f***ing emails.

"And when I got out of rehab I didn’t want to f***ing scream it anymore, I wanted to sing if rom the f***ing rooftops."

Sykes ended his speech with a simple reiteration of his gratitude: "And it’s all thanks to you, so thank you very much."

The English singer-songwriter has previously referred to his struggle with drug addiction at the Reading Festival in 2013.

According to NME he told the crowd: "We get a lot of letters from you guys, which we love, and you're talking about how we saved your lives, which I don't know much about.

"A couple of years ago I was a f***ing worthless drug addict, and you guys saved my life. So thank you very much!"