VINCE NEIL
Born Vince Neil Wharton on February 8, 1961, in Hollywood, CA, Neil was the focal point of the band with his long blonde hair and screeching vocal style. While not a schooled vocalist, Neil definitely looked the part. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, he epitomized the carefree California "surfer dude" image, which was, at the time, the ideal persona for a heavy metal front man (à la David Lee Roth). After Neil joined Mötley Crüe in 1981, the band recorded the self-produced album Too Fast for Love, which attracted the attention of Elektra Records' Tom Zutaut. They were subsequently signed and in 1983 released their major-label debut, Shout at the Devil, that went on to become a multi-platinum smash and launched the band into superstardom. Unfortunately, after the ensuing tour to support the album with Ozzy Osbourne, Neil was involved in a serious alcohol-related car accident in Redondo Beach, CA. The singer, who was driving drunk, skidded into an oncoming car, killing his passenger, Hanoi Rocks' drummer Nicolas "Razzle" Dingley, and seriously injuring the two passengers in the other vehicle. Neil avoided prison and was sent to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic and ordered to pay damages to the victims. Despite the accident, Mötley Crüe pressed on and released 1985's Theatre Of Pain which quickly went multi-platinum as did 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls and 1989's Dr. Feelgood, an album that became the band's biggest success. Following the massive tour to support Dr. Feelgood, Neil was fired from the band. As to why he was fired is up to different interpretation from different bandmembers. As a result, the singer embarked on a semi-successful solo career, teaming up with former Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens on 1993's Exposed, which sold respectably. In 1995, Neil released the Dust Brothers' produced Carved in Stone which failed to live up to expectations. Mötley Crüe also failed to recapture their '80s success with their 1994 self-titled album and asked Neil to rejoin the band in 1997. | | MICK MARS
Born Bob Alan Deal on April 4, 1955, in Terre Haute, IN, the Deal family eventually settled in Huntington, IN, where he attended his first concert. This event would inspire him to pick up the guitar (he actually began on bass guitar) and join his first band, a Beatles cover group called the Jades. He was 14 years old. By then, he and his family had relocated to Garden Grove, a small community in Southern California. Citing influences ranging from Jeff Beck to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Mars would eventually land the lead guitar slot in what would become one of the biggest rock bands of the '80s. After playing for years in various bands around the Los Angeles area, Mars placed an ad in a local paper to which Mötley Crüe founder/bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee responded. Mars was hired on the spot. The band went on to add vocalist Vince Neil and proceeded to gig around Hollywood creating a buzz with their outrageous stage show. A show which included Mars' spitting blood à la Gene Simmons-style and Sixx lighting himself on fire. The band eventually landed a record deal with Elektra Records and Mars began what would become a very tempestuous but rewarding songwriting collaboration experience with Sixx -- one that would propel the band into super stardom. Mars was often perceived as the overly reclusive and quiet member of the band; however, this perception was created by a degenerative bone condition called ankylosing spondylitis. This disease caused the guitarist to appear hunched over on- and off-stage, resulting in his image as the shy and mysterious member. The disease also spawned a serious alcohol addiction that landed him in rehab years later. After signing their record deal, Elektra went on to reissue the band's self-produced first album, Too Fast for Love, in 1982. The follow-up album, 1983's Shout at the Devil, put these Hollywood bad boys on the metal map as Mars and the band dominated '80s metal. They released three multi-platinum albums in a row; 1985's Theatre of Pain, 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls, and their most commercially successful album to date, 1989's Dr. Feelgood, the end result of Mars' catchy rock riffs (while frequently intoxicated) and Sixx's rebellious and sexually driven lyrics. | | 
With a gritty reputation that was arguably equaled only by Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe's infamous antics made them a force to be reckoned with in the '80s. As one of the first and most influential hair metal bands of the '80s, Mötley Crüe had a series of hit albums, the biggest and most noteworthy being 1989's Dr. Feelgood. The band continued to court controversy into the next decade, even when their recording career took a downturn through a series of well-publicized mishaps and run-ins with the law. Mötley Crüe's beginning can be traced back to 1981, when bassist Nikki Sixx (born Frank Ferrana) and drummer "Tommy Lee" Bass decided to leave the bands they were in at the time and pursue a new project together. Bob "Mick Mars" Deal was hired to play guitar and "Vince Neil" Wharton was added as vocalist. The band went through several name changes before Mars presented them with Mottley Krue, recalling a time when his previous band was described as a "motley looking crew." After agreeing on this name and altering the spelling somewhat, the newly formed group began to play at local clubs and soon became cult favorites, known for their unique stage theatrics. The band soon met up with Allan Coffman, who financed their first album, Too Fast for Love, on their own small, independent Lethur Records label; the record sold a surprising 20,000 copies. After signing to Elektra Records, the band released Shout at the Devil in 1983, which featured the hit video "Looks That Kill." The record went platinum, but the band's success was temporarily brought to a halt when Neil was involved in a deadly automobile accident on August 12. Driving under the influence of alcohol, Neil crashed into another car, killing his good friend and passenger Nicholas Dingley of Hanoi Rocks; the other victims emerged with broken bones and brain damage. Neil was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated, and was incarcerated for 30 days in 1985, in addition to performing community service and paying a large cash settlement. By the time Neil had been sentenced, however, the band's newest record, Theatre of Pain, had already been released and soared up the charts, making the band stars and producing their first Top 40 hit with a cover of Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys' Room." After a short hiatus, the band regrouped with Neil to film a music video for "Home Sweet Home"; the first hit power ballad to be aired on MTV, it became their most requested music video for four months straight. A 44-minute home video cassette, Uncensored, was released in 1986, containing rare live footage and interviews; meanwhile, Lee married actress Heather Locklear. A year later, Mötley Crüe released their fourth album, Girls Girls Girls. The uncensored video for the popular title track was immediately banned from television, not airing until a slightly cleaned-up version was released. The group finally embarked on their own tour, but the European dates were canceled when Sixx suffered a drug overdose and nearly lost his life. Over the next year, all four members sought out drug rehabilitation and Mötley Crüe remained out of the spotlight. They returned, clean and sober, in 1989 with Dr. Feelgood, which hit number one on the Billboard charts due to the strong singles "Kickstart My Heart," "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)," "Without You," and the infamous title-track, which became their first Top Ten single. After another worldwide tour, they released a compilation album, Decade of Decadence, in 1991. The album opened at number two, and a home video of the same name was released shortly afterwards. The group created their own record label, Mötley Records, and signed a new contract with Elektra for $25 million. Unfortunately by this time, the music industry that made them famous was beginning to change, and the pressure to keep pace with the times began to take its toll on the bandmembers' camaraderie. In 1992, sessions for Mötley Crüe's next album turned ugly, and Neil was fired and replaced with vocalist John Corabi, formerly of the Scream. The 1994 product was Mötley Crüe, which peaked at number seven in the U.S. and eventually went gold, but was ultimately a commercial disappointment (as was a supporting tour). In early 1997, Corabi was fired and Neil rehired for the much-hyped Generation Swine. (Corabi resurfaced alongside former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick in the group Union.) Though Generation Swine opened at number four, it was sharply criticized and fell off the charts before long. In 1998, the band released Greatest Hits, but shortly after the supporting tour, Lee was arrested for spousal abuse against wife Pamela Anderson and sentenced to jail time for most of the year. Meanwhile, the group's deal with Elektra fell apart, and Mötley Records switched its affiliation to the Beyond label, with the band acquiring the rights to its back catalog. After numerous bitter encounters with Neil, Tommy Lee left the band in 1999 to form Methods of Mayhem, who released their self-titled debut late that year; he was replaced with Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo. That year, the revamped Crüe issued remastered editions of all their studio albums (complete with bonus tracks) plus the rarities collection Supersonic and Demonic Relics. An album of all new material, New Tattoo, appeared in the summer of 2000. Also in 2000, Sixx found time to launch a side project, 58. On the eve of the Crüe's tour in support of New Tattoo, Castillo was stricken with an undisclosed illness and sat out the tour to recuperate. Instead of canceling the tour, the Crüe temporarily enlisted Hole drummer (and lifelong Crüe fan) Samantha Maloney. In May of 2001, the band issued an over-the-top, tell-all biography, The Dirt (which even included input from former drummer Lee), that quickly became a best-seller. Around the same time, Neil embarked on a brief solo tour of U.S. clubs and looked for a new solo record deal, but remained adamant that he was still a member of Motley Crüe. Sixx used the downtime to write material for other bands, including Tantric, Meatloaf, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and James Michael. Sadly, Castillo passed away in the spring of 2002, and the band announced their hiatus would probably last into the next year. Sixx also began talking about reuniting the original lineup for a farewell tour, but Tommy Lee quickly went to the press and told them that his relationship with Vince Neil was simply too poor for that to happen. Controversy surrounded the band again as former producer Tom Werman sued the band for unpaid royalties, Neil's former wife Heidi Mark publicly accused him of physical abuse, and Neil was kicked off a nationally syndicated radio show for being too drunk to maintain an interview. Tour drummer Samantha Maloney was also mixed up in things as Sixx decided to write a mean-spirited posting on his website in retaliation for the public acknowledgement of a feud between her and his wife due to his infidelity during their 2000 tour. Rumors of a reunion continued to swirl during 2003-04, even as Mötley Crüe members stayed busy with individual projects. Both Tommy Lee and Vince Neil participated in celebrity shows, Lee as the focus of a half-hour show on NBC featuring the rock star attending college classes and Neil in the first season of The Surreal Life. Sixx toured and released an album with his new band, Brides of Destruction. The reunion rumors finally came true in late 2004 when the four original members announced dates for a full tour in 2005, their first in more than six years. The tour coincided with the February release of the band’s double-disc greatest hits collection, Red, White & Crüe. | Top Posters
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Get posting | NIKKI SIXX
Nikki Sixx was born December 11, 1958 at 7:11 a.m. (just like the White Trash Convenient Store, he says) in San Jose, California. In Mötley Crüe’s The Dirt, Nikki described his mom Deanna Haight as “an Idaho farm girl with stars in her eyes… witty, strong-willed, motivated and extremely gorgeous… with an untamable wild streak.” Like mother, like son. Sixx was named Frank Feranna by and after his father, who would abandon the family after a few years. Nikki learned later he also had a sister, Lisa, whom he was told he couldn’t see because she was placed in a home for the mentally ill. Nikki wouldn’t lay eyes on his sister, who was born with Down’s Syndrome and blind, her growth stunted, until her death more than 35 years later. Nikki lived with his mom in Hollywood for awhile, but was often shipped out to stay with his grandparents, who moved between Texas, Idaho and New Mexico while Deanna lived the life of a gypsy. At various points in her life, she sang back-up in Frank Sinatra’s band, dated Richard Pryor and was a card dealer in Sparks, Nevada. Today, Nikki insists his parents did the best they could with the tools they were given in life, but it wasn’t always so easy for him to wax poetic about his relationships (or lack thereof) with his mother and father. While in high school, Nikki was taunted for his eclectic clothing style, a mix of glam and punk rock, which he reacted to with violent retaliation. His troubled upbringing came to a head, with Nikki eventually running away from home and getting kicked out of school. Looking back on that troubled upbringing has led to his compassion for other abandoned youngsters and his recent establishment of the “Running Wild in the Night” fund-raising initiative for Covenant House. “Having experienced life as a runaway myself, I wanted to do something to help kids put in this position through no fault of their own,” said Nikki, who admitted that music was perhaps the single most important factor in saving him from an inevitable tragic death on the streets. He had to leave Seattle after getting arrested for selling drugs at a Rolling Stones concert. Nikki knew it was just a matter of time before he ended up locked up in juvenile detention until he was 21… which didn’t exactly sit well with his dream of becoming a rock star. “All I had was an Aerosmith tape, a stolen, beat-up boom box, a Greyhound ticket to Idaho and my dreams,” he says. Back in Idaho, Nikki hauled irrigation pipe on farms while living with his grandparents. He used the money he earned to buy a fake Gibson Les Paul guitar in a gun shop for $109 before catching yet another Greyhound , this time to L.A. to pursue his destiny. Cutting his teeth on L.A.’s late-’70s punk-rock movement with one foot firmly on the heart of ’70s English glam and the other in heavy metal, Nikki looked for the perfect partners to take on the world. After a slew of auditions, false starts and a short run in a band called London, Sixx met drummer Tommy Lee in 1981. Responding to an ad in L.A.’s Recycler for a “loud, rude and aggressive guitarist seeking a band, the duo found what they were looking for in guitarist Mick Mars. Tommy then introduced them to a blond-haired surfer dude with a gnarly, high-pitched yowl named Vince Neil and Mars christened the resultant outfit Mötley Crüe. Mötley Crüe played their first show together January 17, 1981. That same year saw them record a debut album, Too Fast for Love, on their own Leathür Records label. Twenty-five years and some 40 million albums sold later, it all culminated in this year’s “Red White and Crüe” and “Carnival of Sins” worldwide jaunt, named Pollstar’s #6 grossing concert tour of the year. At this point, it looks like no end in sight for the Crüe’s wild and colorful career. Sixx has also participated in a pair of solo projects, in 58 and Brides of Destruction, releasing albums that showed different sides of his songwriting ability. He supplied several songs to The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Rock ‘n Roll Musical and recently co-wrote hit songs for Meat Loaf, Saliva and Marion Raven, among others. Sixx helped co-write the N.Y. Times best-seller Dirt, the history of the Crüe, which has become a sacred text and “bible” for rockers all over the world and will soon become a major motion picture through MTV and Paramount Films. In addition, Sixx’s autobiographical The Heroin Diaries, compiled from his 1986-’87 writings during the height of his drug addiction, will be published by Simon and Schuster next year. Sixx plans on taking the concept of a book to a different level, and with Nikki, these words should not be taken lightly. As with all things Sixx, all we can do is wait and see. The father of five, Sixx has been happily married for nine years to actress/model Donna D’Errico. | | TOMMY LEE
Born in Athens, Greece, as Thomas Lee Bass on March 10, 1962, his family moved to California a year after his birth. Lee received his first drum set at the ripe old age of four, but didn't receive his first real kit until reaching his teenage years, upon his discovery of hard rock and heavy metal (Deep Purple, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, etc.). After drumming for his high-school marching band, Lee quit high school in his senior year, as he focused entirely on following his dream of joining a rock band. His first real band was called Suite 19, and played the Sunset Strip in L.A. during the early '80s. It was at a Suite 19 show that Lee bumped into his future bandmate, Nikki Sixx. Sixx was a bassist looking to form a theatrical band that would specialize in anthemic heavy metal, and when he saw Lee play, he knew he had found his drummer. Sixx successfully convinced Lee to leave Suite 19 and form the nucleus of what would become Mötley Crüe. The drummer changed his name to Tommy Lee (also earning the nickname "T-Bone" from Sixx), and guitarist Mick Mars joined the fledgling band shortly afterwards. Lee recommended a singer from his high-school days, Vince Neil, and after several attempts to get him to try out for the band, Neil landed the gig during the first jam session. Mötley Crüe quickly built a fanatical local following, issuing their debut album, Too Fast for Love, on their own independent Leathur label. Elektra Records decided to sign the band shortly thereafter, reissuing their debut, as the band began a string of hit releases throughout the decade -- 1983's "Shout at the Devil," 1985's "Theater of Pain," 1987's "Girls, Girls, Girls," and 1989's "Dr. Feelgood" -- establishing the quartet as one of the biggest hard rock/metal bands of the '80s. The band took rock theater to a whole new level, especially Lee, whose drum solo centered around such crowd-pleasing gimmicks as his entire kit revolving and spinning, while he continuing to bash on the skins. Although his achievements with Mötley Crüe are extremely impressive, it was his celebrity marriages to Heather Locklear in the '80s and Pamela Anderson in the '90s that made Tommy Lee a household name. One of his most famous incidents occurred during his torrid relationship with Anderson, when they were both involved the highly publicized "sex tape scandal" (a videotape that was stolen from their house was eventually made available to the public). Lee also spent several months behind bars in 1998 after Anderson accused Lee of hitting her in front of their children. The pair divorced while the Crüe drummer was serving his prison sentence, but reconciled and then broke up again after his release. Lee also decided to leave Mötley Crüe during his stay in prison, and stuck to his promise after the completion of the Crüe's Greatest Hits tour in 1999. | |
