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U2 bassist Adam Clayton has publicly thanked his bandmates for their support while he was in recovery for alcohol dependency.

Clayton made the declaration while receiving the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award from MusiCares, the charity arm of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences that helps musicians in times of financial, personal or medical crises, reports Billboard. The ceremony took place at the PlayStation Theatre in Times Square, New York. 

The award was in recognition of his support of the MusiCares MAP Fund which offers musicians access to treatment for addiction recovery.

"We have a pact with each other," said Clayton. "In our band, no one will be a casualty. We all come home, or none of us come home. No one will be left behind. Thank you for honouring that promise, and letting me be in your band.”

Speaking of his alcoholism, Clayton said: "I'm an alcoholic, addict, but in some ways that devastating disease is what drove me towards this wonderful life I now have. It's just that I couldn't take my friend alcohol. At some point I had to leave it behind and claim my full potential."

He added: "I didn't think you could be in a band and not drink. It is so much a part of our culture."

He was fulsome in his praise of his bandmates: "I was lucky because I had three friends who could see what was going on and who loved me enough to take up the slack of my failing. Bono, The Edge, and Larry (Mullen) truly supported me before and after I entered recovery, and I am unreservedly grateful for their friendship, understanding and support."

Clayton was introduced to the stage by former Island Records chief Chris Blackwell, who signed U2 in 1980.

U2 are currently on tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their celebrated fifth album, The Joshua Tree.

More about: U2