Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt has tonight spoken out about frontman Billie Joe Armstrong’s public meltdown and visit to rehab.

The 40-year-old vocalist checked himself into a clinic for substance abuse treatment last month following an on-stage outburst at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.

Now Dirnt has told Radio 1’s Zane Lowe that the band ‘had to put the life of our friend in front of everything':

"Hindsight is 20/20… it was a tremendous undertaking… It catches up with you a little bit. We definitely jumped off a moving train.

"All that inertia. There were signs of things hitting the fan, we hadn't slept in forever."

After revealing that he hadn’t spoken to Armstrong for several weeks, the longest time they’ve gone without contact in 20 years, he remained adamant that his bandmate would pull through, before adding:

“We're still getting ready for the next phase."