NIKKI SIXX: ‘The Idea Of MÖTLEY CRÜE Not Being In My Life Feels Very Strange’

Nikki Sixx

During a recent interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink RadioMÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx was asked if he and his bandmates were surprised by the success of their The Dirt biopic.

“Well, at that time, we’d been in the game 36 years — we’re around 40, 41 years together now. We understand the allure [of] the moth to the flame,” Nikki responded. “And it was accidental, but we were wired for fire and wired to fight and wired to drink and, in my case, wired to experiment with drugs. And there was no repercussions from destroying hotel rooms, rolled cars, drug overdoses, jail sentences.

“So when we survived ourselves and survived our youth, that became such a part of the culture of MÖTLEY CRÜE, and at times, frustrating, because we were, like, ‘Have you heard how great the songs are that are on the new record?’ And people were, like, ‘Tell me about the time.’ So, we knew that was gonna happen, that people wanted to watch the film for the blood and guts, but we also knew it was an opportunity to tell a story about a family, and that’s my band. My band was my family after my family abandoned me.”

As for what he thinks is the glue that has kept MÖTLEY CRÜE together all these years, he said: “God if I know. I mean, honestly, I have no f*cking idea. It’s, like, I think we are on the plane, it’s on fire, we’re heading towards the mountain, we’re gonna crash and burn, and then next thing you know, we’re on another world tour, and we’re together and we’re getting along like brothers. And then it changes again. So we’ve been through so many versions. I think now that we’re getting older… we’re just happy to play together. [Laughs]

“[It was] very painful for me when the band has been on the verge of breaking up, because the band is — I threw my life into this band,” he continued. “And I threw my life as a lyricist into this band and exposed things about myself or things that I saw in this band,” he continued.

“I’m so lucky that I met Tommy [Lee] and Vince [Neil] and Mick [Mars], and they’ve changed my life, and I’ve hopefully helped change their life. And we, really, maybe changed a lot of other people’s lives, even on an entertainment level. So, yeah, the idea of MÖTLEY CRÜE not being in my life feels very strange.”

New dates and tickets for “The Stadium Tour,” featuring MÖTLEY CRÜEDEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS can be found at this location.