Rocker Josh Homme was plunged into a crippling depression for months after 'dying' for several seconds during surgery for a knee injury.

The Queens of the Stone Age star underwent a routine operation in 2010 but an unexpected complication during the procedure led to doctors desperately battling to bring him back from the dead.

The singer/songwriter survived his brush with death but the incident caused him to spiral into a dark despair in which he couldn't face playing music and wanted to destroy his instruments.

Homme tells Mojo magazine, "It started with me waking up, being defibrillated. Then I couldn't get out of bed for four months. I was exhausted. Could I play guitar? I did not want to do that. In fact, I wanted to break them all. I didn't want to play music any more."

Homme only managed to pull himself out of his dark hole by pouring out his heart to his pal, Nine Inch Nails rocker Trent Reznor.

He adds, "I knew he would understand. And the talks were long, and they really helped me a lot."