About Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. They have also achieved seven platinum or multi-platinum certifications, nine Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart , twenty-two Top 40 mainstream rock hits, and six Top 20 pop singles.
The members of Mötley Crüe have often been noted for their hedonistic lifestyles and the androgynous personae they maintained. Following the hard rock and heavy metal origins on the band's first two albums, Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil , the release of its third album Theatre of Pain saw Mötley Crüe joining the first wave of glam metal. The band is also known for their elaborate live performances, which feature flame thrower guitars, roller coaster drum kits, and heavy use of pyrotechnics such as fireworks and lighting Sixx on fire. Mötley Crüe's most recent studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, was released on June 24, 2008. What was planned to be the band's final show took place on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2015. The concert was filmed for a theatrical and Blu-ray release in 2016.
After two-and-a-half years of inactivity, Neil announced in September 2018 that Mötley Crüe had reunited and was working on new material. On March 22, 2019, the band released four new songs on the soundtrack for its Netflix biopic The Dirt, based on the band's New York Times best-selling autobiography of the same name. The soundtrack went to number one on the iTunes All Genres Album Chart, number 3 on the Billboard Top Album and Digital Album sales charts, number 10 on the Billboard 200, and Top 10 worldwide. The autobiography returned to the New York Times Best Seller list at number 6 on Nonfiction Print and number 8 on Nonfiction Combined Print & E-Book. Mötley Crüe embarked on its first major tour in seven years in the summer and fall of 2022, co-headlining a North American tour with Def Leppard.
The band has experienced several lineup changes over the years, leaving Sixx as the only constant member; these included the introduction of lead vocalist John Corabi and drummers Randy Castillo and Samantha Maloney, both of whom filled in for Lee following his departure from Mötley Crüe in 1999; he returned to the band in 2004. In October 2022, after 41 years of service, Mars announced his retirement from touring with the band, with John 5 replacing him.
The nucleus of the group first came together in early 1981, when former Suite 19 guitarist/lead vocalist Greg Leon and drummer Tommy Lee decided to form a new band. They attended the farewell gig of a popular local band called London, and Lee was already impressed by the image and stage presence of their bassist, Nikki Sixx. Even before meeting Sixx, Lee claims he had posters of London on his bedroom walls. "Tommy just loved how Nikki looked", recalled Leon. "He was gung-ho about him, saying, 'This is the guy we should get'." Sixx auditioned twice but Leon felt he was "awful", telling Lee "He looks great. He's great on stage. But he can't play bass at all."
Lee subsequently became friends with Sixx and went to his Hollywood home to listen to new material he was working on. The music had been rejected by his London bandmates for being too heavy, and Lee says he immediately began banging on the table in time with the music and "everything just seemed to mesh". Lee subsequently hired Sixx for the new band, prompting guitarist/vocalist Leon to quit in protest. "I never played a show with Nikki Sixx. Tommy and I played together many times, but I was gone as soon as Nikki entered the picture. But they couldn't find a guitar player or singer initially, so they kept calling me. But I refused," Leon has said of his time in the band. Sixx and Lee began a search for new members and soon met guitarists Robin Moore and Bob Deal, better known as Mick Mars, after answering an advertisement that he placed in The Recycler that read: "Loud, rude and aggressive guitar player available". Mars auditioned for Sixx, Moore and Lee, and was subsequently hired while Moore was fired at the same session according to the band's biography The Dirt.
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