Nicky Wire “deeply regrets” saying he wished Michael Stipe would die of AIDS.

The Manic Street Preachers bassist insisted he has no “excuse” for some of the controversial remarks he’s made in the past, such as his 1993 proclamation that he hoped the R.E.M. frontman would “go the same way as Freddie Mercury” but admitted alcohol often “altered” his usual personality.

Asked about the Michael Stipe comment, he told MOJO magazine: “It is strange, because I’m not lying when I talk about my shyness when I was young.

“I’m always dubious about people who say they have no regrets. I have millions.

“I deeply regret some mad things, just awful things I said. Spiteful things.

“And I haven’t got any excuse. Sometimes I was absolutely hammered on Babycham and vodka. You do forget how much drink can alter you.

“I haven’t had a drink for 11 years. Not a big crisis or anything, just, ‘I’ve got kids and I can’t get up in the morning any more.’ “

And the ‘Orwellian’ hitmaker admitted his past comments have caused problems when it comes to disciplining his teenage kids.

He said: “My daughter really loves to pick these things up. At the dinner table she’ll say, ‘You can’t talk Dad. Look at what you said in 1992. Look what you said in ’94…’ “

Asked if that means she reads his old press, he added to Mojo magazine: “Only to say bad things about me. I’m irrelevant in my own house.

“Having said that, she does nick a lot of my old clothes!”

With over 30 years having passed since the group released their first single, Nicky admitted it can be a “massive effort” to keep going.

Discussing the relationship between him and bandmates James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore, he said: “It is bewildering. I do think we’re at the point where it is more through telepathy than anything else. Luckily, we were coerced into having families at the same time.

“OK, James a little bit later than me and Sean… But the fact that we all can relate to this sheer exhaustion of keeping things going, normal life, band life. It does take massive effort.

“I mean, if you’re not even relevant in your own house, it’s hard to project to a whole country that you are.”