Josh Homme lost his faith in music after a near-death experience.

The Queens Of The Stone Age frontman almost disbanded the group after complications during a knee operation in 2010 left him technically 'dead' for a few minutes.

He explained in an interview with The Sun newspaper: ''I was in bed for four months and went through things that I'd never been through before. When I got up, I didn't want to make music any more.

''I had all these feelings that everything was wrong. It was, 'Woe is me', but more than a depression. There was a heavy disconnect between me and music. I'd never felt that before.

''Since I was a kid I'd always heard music in my head. All of a sudden I only heard other people's music. I couldn't write for a long time and I thought my days of making music were over.

''That's why there's been a long wait for this album. And that's why it's the hardest album I've ever made.''

As a result of Josh's struggle, the bands new album '...Like Clockwork' took six years to make, but he says it features the most ''real'' songs they have ever recorded.

Queens of the Stone Age - who fired drummer Joey Castillo during the making of the album - also invited a host of A-list guests to join them in the studio, including Sir Elton John, who appears on track 'Fairweather Friends'.

Josh enthused: ''Elton John is on a Queens album. How cool is that? We'd lost Joey and it was sad but Elton helped with that loss. He'd been playing on The Vultures record [Josh's other band] and a mutual friend told him to listen to Queens. So he did, then he called me up. Then he said, 'The only thing missing from your band is an actual queen.'

''He became part of the band. There was no special treatment... He was good to hang with, and seeing him on the piano blew my mind.''