''The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'' () is a collaborative
autobiography of
Mötley Crüe by the band –
Tommy Lee
Thomas Lee Bass (born October 3, 1962) is an American musician and founding member of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical ...
,
Mick Mars,
Vince Neil and
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a me ...
– and ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' writer
Neil Strauss
Neil Darrow Strauss, also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author, journalist and ghostwriter. He is best known for his book '' The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', in which he describes his ...
. First published in 2001, it chronicles the formation of the band, their rise to fame and their highs and lows.
Contributors include onetime member
John Corabi
John Corabi (born April 26, 1959) is an American hard rock singer and guitarist. He was the frontman of The Scream during 1989 and the frontman of Mötley Crüe between 1992 and 1996 during original frontman Vince Neil's hiatus from the band.
C ...
, former band manager
Doc McGhee
Doc McGhee is an American music manager, best known for working with hard rock bands Kiss, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe. The latter two groups experienced their rise to stardom under his management. He has also worked with Hootie & the Blowfish.
H ...
, co-manager Doug Thaler, and A&R man Tom Zutaut.
The book contains over 100 photographs, mostly black and white, with a 16-page color section in the middle of the book.
The first hardback edition was on the
''New York Times'' Bestseller list for four weeks and sold 13,000 copies in the UK.
The Crüe's 2008 album ''
Saints of Los Angeles
''Saints of Los Angeles'' is the ninth and final studio album by the American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on June 24, 2008. It was the first full-length studio album with the band's original lineup since 1997's ''Generation Swine'' ...
'' was inspired by the book.
Film adaptation
A film based on the book has long been mooted. "Anybody can make a shitty rock movie," observed Sixx. "We don't want to do that. A lot of people don't understand rock music and the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. It's not ''just'' sex, drugs and car crashes. Those things happen – and, in our case, more than usual. But what's at the core of it all is the creativity and the personal relationships between each band member. We don't just want to slap together the thrill moments. Any of the great movies, whether it's ''
Walk the Line
''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical musical romantic drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies authored by singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, 1975's '' M ...
'' or ''
Ray'', they got the music right and the personalities right."
After years in development ("Bringing the story of our lives to screen in just the right way isn't easy," remarked Mars), the adaptation was filmed in 2018 with
Jeff Tremaine
Jeffrey Tremaine (born September 4, 1966) is an American television director, television producer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating the reality stunt show '' Jackass'' with Spike Jonze and Johnny ...
as director. It was released on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
on March 22, 2019. The band members of Mötley Crüe are co-producers on the film.
Soundtrack
''
The Dirt Soundtrack
''The Dirt Soundtrack'' is the soundtrack album to the 2019 biographical film of the same name by Mötley Crüe, inspired by the book '' The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'' by the band and Neil Strauss. It was their te ...
'' was released by
Mötley Records and
Eleven Seven Records on March 22, 2019, on CD, LP, and digital formats.
Reception
The AV Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
described the book as a tell-all about the rock star life that had "soul-crushing moments" and moments where the protagonists reach "moments of clarity." They compared it to
Marilyn Manson’s ''
The Long Hard Road Out of Hell
''The Long Hard Road Out of Hell'' is the autobiography of Marilyn Manson, leader of the American rock band of the same name. The book was released on February 14, 1998 and co-authored by Neil Strauss.
Summary
The book follows Manson's lif ...
''.
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
called it a "gritty homage" and a "good dirty rock read."
"You could take both the
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
and
Aerosmith books
Hammer_of_the_Gods''_and_''Walk_This_Way:_The_Autobiography_of_Aerosmith.html" "title="Hammer of the Gods (book)">Hammer of the Gods'' and ''Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith">Walk This Way
"Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...
'', respectively], mash them together with contaminated blood and as much bullshit as it takes to stick the pages," wrote Mick Wall, "and you still wouldn't have something as brilliantly conceived or vividly told as ''The Dirt''. Far more than any of their mostly patchy albums, ''The Dirt'' stands as Mötley Crüe's most convincing monument to four lives lived the hard and fast way."
"They may be one of the worst bands to scale the platinum peaks of success," remarked ''
'' (2004) by Tommy Lee and Anthony Bozza.
* ''
'' (2007) by Nikki Sixx and Ian Gittins.
* ''