Mötley Crüe is an American
heavy metal band formed in
Hollywood, California
Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...
, in 1981
by bassist
Nikki Sixx and drummer
Tommy Lee
Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects.
Early ...
, with guitarist
Mick Mars and lead vocalist
Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sold over 100 million records worldwide. They have also achieved seven platinum or multi-platinum certifications, nine Top 10 albums on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart (including 1989's ''
Dr. Feelgood'', which is Mötley Crüe's only studio album to reach number one), twenty-two Top 40 mainstream rock hits, and six Top 20 pop singles.
The members of Mötley Crüe are often noted for their
hedonistic
Hedonism is a family of philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of egoism, it suggests that peopl ...
lifestyles and the
androgynous
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...
personae they maintained. Following the hard rock and heavy metal origins on the band's first two albums, ''
Too Fast for Love'' (1981) and ''
Shout at the Devil'' (1983), the release of its third album ''
Theatre of Pain'' (1985) 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
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
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
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
for its
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
biopic ''
The Dirt'', based on the band's ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' best-selling
autobiography of the same name. The soundtrack went to number one on the
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
All Genres Album Chart,
number 3 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' 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 during the summer and fall of 2022, co-headlining a North American tour with
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
.
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 (who was Neil's replacement from 1992 to 1996) 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 (formerly of
David Lee Roth,
Marilyn Manson
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
and
Rob Zombie
Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
) replacing him.
History
1981–1983: Early history and ''Too Fast for Love''
The nucleus of the group first came together in early 1981, when former Suite 19 guitarist/lead vocalist, and one-time member of
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Kelly Garni, and vocalist Kevin DuBrow.
The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin Du ...
and
Dokken,
Greg Leon and drummer
Tommy Lee
Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects.
Early ...
decided to form a new band.
They attended the farewell gig of a popular local band called
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, 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 (Jeff Gill) 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''.
Although a lead vocalist named O'Dean Peterson was auditioned, Lee had known
Vince Neil from their high school days at
Charter Oak High School in
Covina, California, and the two had performed in different bands on the
garage band circuit. Upon seeing him perform with the band Rock Candy at
the Starwood in Hollywood, California, Lee suggested they have Neil join the band. At first Neil refused the offer.
On the same day as Mars, lead vocalist
Michael White, who previously played with
Nikki Sixx in London, joined the band.
[''The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'', by Mötley Crüe and Neil Strauss (pp. 36–37), ] But White eventually ended up leaving also.
As the other members of Rock Candy started to think about moving in more of a
New Wave direction and became involved in outside projects, Vince Neil grew anxious to try something else. Lee asked again; Neil was hired on April 1, 1981, and the band played its first gig at the Starwood nightclub on April 24.
The newly formed band did not yet have a name. Neil has said that he told his bandmates that he was "thinking about calling the band Christmas". The other members were not very receptive to that idea. Then, while trying to find a suitable name, Mars remembered an incident that occurred when he was playing with a band called White Horse, when one of the other band members called the group "a motley looking crew". He had remembered the phrase and later copied it down as 'Mottley Cru'. After slight modification of the spelling, "Mötley Crüe" was eventually selected as the band's name, with the stylistic decision suggested by Neil to add the two sets of
metal umlaut
A metal umlaut (also known as röck döts) is a diacritic that is sometimes used gratuitously or decoratively over letters in the names of mainly hard rock or heavy metal bands—for example, those of Blue Öyster Cult, Queensrÿche, Motörhea ...
s, supposedly inspired by the German beer
Löwenbräu, which the members were drinking at the time. Other than the periods of February 1992 to September 1996 and of March 1999 to September 2004, and until October 2022, the lineup of Neil, Sixx, Lee, and Mars remained the same.
The band soon met its first manager, Allan Coffman, the thirty-eight-year-old brother-in-law of a friend of Mars's driver. The band's first release was the single "Stick to Your Guns/Toast of the Town", which was released on its own record label,
Leathür Records, which had a pressing and distribution deal with Greenworld Distribution in
Torrance, California
Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...
. On November 10, 1981, its debut album ''
Too Fast for Love'' was self-produced and released on Leathür, selling 20,000 copies. Coffman's assistant
Eric Greif set up a tour of Canada, while Coffman and Greif used Mötley Crüe's success in the Los Angeles club scene to negotiate with several record labels, eventually signing a recording contract with
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
in early 1982. The debut album was then remixed by producer
Roy Thomas Baker and re-released on August 20, 1982—two months after its Canadian
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
release using the original Leathür mixes—to coincide with the tour.
During the "Crüesing Through Canada Tour '82", there were several widely publicized incidents. First, the band was arrested and then released at
Edmonton International Airport
Edmonton International Airport , officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport since 2022, is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian pro ...
for wearing their spiked stage wardrobe (considered "dangerous weapons") through customs, and for Neil arriving with a small carry-on filled with porn magazines (considered "indecent material"); both were staged
PR stunts. Customs eventually had the confiscated items destroyed. Second, while playing Scandals Disco in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, a spurious "bomb threat" against the band made the front page of the ''
Edmonton Journal
The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network.
History
The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...
'' on June 9, 1982; Lee and assistant band manager Greif were interviewed by police as a result. This too ended up being a staged PR stunt perpetrated by Greif. Lastly, Lee threw a television set from an upper story window of the Sheraton Caravan Hotel. Canadian rock magazine ''Music Express'' noted that the band was "banned for life" from the city. Despite the tour ending prematurely in financial disaster, it was the basis for the band's first international press.
In 1983, the band changed management from Coffman to Doug Thaler and
Doc McGhee. McGhee is best known for managing
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
and later
Kiss
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
, starting with their
reunion tour in 1996. Greif subsequently sued all parties in a Los Angeles Superior Court action that dragged on for several years, and coincidentally later resurfaced as manager of Sixx's former band, London. Coffman himself was sued by several investors to whom he had sold "stock in the band", including
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
-based Bill Larson. Coffman eventually declared bankruptcy, as he had mortgaged his home at least three times to cover band expenses.
1983–1991: International fame and addiction struggles
The band became rapidly successful in the United States after playing at the
US Festival
The US Festival is the name of two early 1980s music and culture festivals held near San Bernardino, California.
Background
Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple and creator of the Apple I and Apple II personal computers, believed that the 197 ...
on May 29, 1983, and also with the aid of the new medium of
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
. Their second album, ''
Shout at the Devil'', was released on September 26, 1983. The album represented the band's mainstream breakthrough and would eventually be certified 4× platinum. The album generated controversy for its
title track
A title track is a song that has the same name as the album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...
and album imagery, both of which invoked
Satanism
Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...
. They then gained the attention of then-former
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
singer
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
and found themselves opening for Osbourne on his 1984
tour for ''
Bark at the Moon''. The band members were well known for their backstage antics, outrageous clothing, extreme high-heeled boots, heavily applied make-up, and seemingly endless abuse of alcohol and drugs.
The band members also had their share of run-ins with the law. On December 8, 1984, Neil was driving home from a liquor run in his
De Tomaso Pantera, which ended in a head-on collision; his passenger, then-
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish Rock music, rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when ...
drummer
Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, was killed. Neil, charged with a
DUI and
vehicular manslaughter, was sentenced to 30 days in jail (although he served only 18 days) and subsequently was sued for $2,500,000. The short jail term was negotiated by his lawyers, enabling Neil to tour and pay the civil suit.
The band's third album, ''
Theatre of Pain'', was released on June 21, 1985, and dedicated in Dingley's honor, and it started a new
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...
phase in the band's style. ''Theatre of Pain'' was commercially successful, reaching number 6 on the ''Billboard'' album charts and eventually being certified quadruple platinum. However, the recording of the album was fraught with tension in the wake of Neil's accident and Sixx's growing addiction, and members of the band have said that they consider it a creative disappointment.
Mötley Crüe spent most of the next year on a world tour in support of ''Theatre of Pain''. In February 1986, while in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Sixx suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose, and the person who sold him the drugs dumped his unconscious body in a
dumpster. The incident inspired Sixx to write the song "Dancing on Glass" for their next album.
The band's fourth album, ''
Girls, Girls, Girls'', was released on May 15, 1987, and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200. Sixx has said in interviews that he believes the album would have debuted at number 1, if not for behind the scenes maneuvering by
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
's record label. The band again changed their look for the album and subsequent tour, trading the glam elements of the previous album for a
biker aesthetic. The band faced many of the same personal issues that plagued the recording of ''Theatre of Pain'' and Sixx has complained that those issues compromised the album's quality, although he has spoken more positively about the record in subsequent years.
On December 23, 1987, Sixx suffered a heroin overdose. He was declared clinically dead on the way to the hospital, but the paramedic, who was a Mötley Crüe fan,
revived Sixx with two shots of adrenaline. His two minutes in death were the inspiration for the song "
Kickstart My Heart", which peaked at No. 16 on the Mainstream U.S. chart, and which was featured on 1989's ''
Dr. Feelgood'', their first U.S. number one album. From 1986 to 1987, Sixx kept a daily diary of his heroin addiction and eventually entered rehab in January 1988, prompting the band to cancel their planned tour dates for that year.
While 1988 was the first year that Mötley Crüe did not tour, controversy again hit the band that year in the form of a lawsuit by Matthew Trippe. Trippe claimed that Sixx was hospitalized in 1983 after a car crash involving drugs and that he had been hired as Sixx's
doppelgänger
A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart.
In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...
. The suit was regarding the loss of royalties from his time in Mötley Crüe and the case was not closed until 1993 when Trippe dropped his charges and disappeared from public view.
Their decadent lifestyles almost shattered the band until managers Thaler and McGhee pulled an intervention and refused to allow the band to tour in Europe, fearing that "some
f themwould come back in bodybags". Shortly after, all the band members jointly entered
drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general int ...
in an effort to move forward as a band.
After finding sobriety, Mötley Crüe reached its peak popularity with the release of their fifth album, the
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician.
In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
-produced ''
Dr. Feelgood'', on September 1, 1989. Rock and the band recorded the album in
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, with the band members recording their parts separately for the first time to reduce infighting and to focus on individual performance.
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
lead singer
Steven Tyler
Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...
, who was recording the album ''
Pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy.
Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
'' at the same studio, provided backing vocals. On October 14 of that year, it became a No. 1 album and stayed on the charts for 114 weeks after its release. The band members each stated in interviews that, due in no small part to their collective push for sobriety, ''Dr. Feelgood'' was their most solid album musically to that point. The title track and "Kickstart My Heart" were both nominated for Grammys in the Best Hard Rock Category in 1990 and 1991, respectively, but lost both years to songs by
Living Colour. The band did find some success at the
American Music Award
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
s, as ''Dr. Feelgood'' was nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Award, losing once to
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
' ''
Appetite for Destruction'', but winning the following year, beating out
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
's ''
Pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy.
Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
'' and
Poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
's ''
Flesh & Blood''. Mötley Crüe was also nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Artist.
In 1989, McGhee was fired after the band alleged he had broken several promises that he made in relation to the
Moscow Music Peace Festival, including giving his other band,
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
, advantages in terms of slot placement. Thaler then assumed the role of sole band manager.
Mötley Crüe spent the fall of 1989 and most of 1990 on a massive world tour, the band's biggest to that point. It was a major financial success but left the band feeling burnt out. In April 1990, Lee suffered a concussion during a mishap involving a rappelling drum kit stunt during a live concert in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
.
On October 1, 1991, the band's first compilation album, ''
Decade of Decadence 81–91'', was released. It peaked at No. 2 on the
''Billboard'' 200 album chart. It was reportedly designed as "just something for the fans" while the band worked on the next "all new" album.
1992–2003: Years of turmoil
Neil left the band in February 1992 following the release of ''Decade of Decadence'', during a period in which most other prominent
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...
bands of the 1980s were breaking up or otherwise seeing their popularity decline significantly amid the advent of
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
and
alternative music. It remains unclear whether Neil was fired or quit the band. Sixx has long maintained that Neil quit, while Neil insists that he was fired. "Any band has its little spats," Neil observed in 2000, "and this one basically just stemmed from a bunch of 'fuck yous' in a rehearsal studio. It went from 'I quit' to 'You're fired' ... It was handled idiotically. The management just let one of the biggest bands in the world break up."
In the running for the vacant frontman position was
Kik Tracee
Kik Tracee was an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 1988 during the last years of the glam metal movement, before the influx of grunge and alternative rock.
History
The band was formed in a Los Angeles sub ...
vocalist
Stephen Shareaux. Ultimately Neil was replaced by
John Corabi (formerly of
Angora and
the Scream). Although Mötley's
self-titled March 1994 release made the ''Billboard'' top ten (#7), the album was a commercial failure. It also prompted negative reactions from many fans due to Neil's absence and its sound. Corabi suggested the band bring back Neil, believing the latter would always be seen as the voice of the band. This eventually resulted in his own firing in 1996. Corabi spoke about his time with the band and his thoughts on the first record with Mötley Crüe. Corabi said: "my record was the first record that they had done that didn't go platinum, didn't make some sort of crazy noise, and everybody panicked". During his time away from the band, Neil released a moderately successful solo album, ''
Exposed'' in 1993, and a less commercially successful follow-up, ''
Carved in Stone'' in 1995.
After ''Rolling Stone'' magazine broke out the news in their November 26, 1996 issue, the band reunited with Neil in 1997, after their current manager, Allen Kovac, and Neil's manager, Bert Stein, set up a meeting between Neil, Lee, and Sixx. Agreeing to "leave their egos at the door", the band released ''
Generation Swine''. Although it debuted at No. 4, and in spite of a live performance at the American Music Awards, the album was a commercial failure, due in part to lack of support from their label.
In 1998, Mötley Crüe's contractual ties with Elektra had expired, putting the band in total control of their future, including the ownership of the master recordings of all of their albums. Announcing the end of their relationship with Elektra, the band became one of the few groups to own and control their publishing and music catalog. They are one of only a handful of artists to own the masters to their material and reportedly did so by being the biggest pain they could be until Elektra got fed up and handed over the rights in order to get the band off their label. After leaving Elektra the band created their own label,
Mötley Records.
Mötley Crüe released their compilation ''
Greatest Hits'' in late 1998, featuring two new songs, "Bitter Pill" and "Enslaved". In 1999, the band rereleased all their albums, dubbed as "Crücial Crüe". These limited-edition digital remasters included demos, plus live, instrumental, and previously unreleased tracks. In 1999 the band also released ''
Supersonic and Demonic Relics'', an updated version of ''Decade of Decadence'' featuring the original songs from that album and several previously unreleased B-sides and remixes, as well as their first official live album ''
Entertainment or Death'' (which was the original working title for the studio album ''Theatre of Pain''). The band then went on a
co-headlining tour with
the Scorpions.
In 1999, Lee quit to pursue a solo career, due to increasing tensions with Neil. "All we got was a call from his attorney saying he wasn't coming back," recalled the singer. "He wasn't into rock 'n' roll anymore. He even said that rock is dead ... It all happened during a void in Mötley. We weren't even rehearsing, so it was no big deal."
Lee was replaced by a longtime friend of the band, former
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
drummer
Randy Castillo. The band released ''
New Tattoo'' in July 2000. Before the ensuing tour commenced, Castillo became ill with a duodenal ulcer. The band brought in former
Hole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...
drummer
Samantha Maloney for the Maximum Rock tour with
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
as Castillo concentrated on his health. However, while Castillo was recovering from stomach surgery, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma after finding a tumor on his jaw. He died on March 26, 2002. Soon afterward, the band went on hiatus.
While the band was on hiatus, Sixx played in side projects
58 and
Brides of Destruction. Neil was featured on the first season of VH1's reality show ''
The Surreal Life'', and had his own special titled "Remaking Vince Neil", which focused on his solo career and attempts to get in better physical shape. Mars, who suffers from a hereditary form of arthritis which causes extensive spinal pain called
ankylosing spondylitis, went into seclusion in 2001 dealing with health issues. Lee went on to form
Methods of Mayhem and also performed as a solo artist during this time.
A 2001 autobiography titled ''
The Dirt'', co-authored by all four of the band members and
Neil Strauss
Neil Darrow Strauss (born March 9, 1969), also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author and journalist. His book ''The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', describes his experiences in the seducti ...
, presented Mötley Crüe as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there, and would return to the list after the film adaptation was released in spring 2019.
In 2003, the band released two
box set
A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists ...
s entitled ''
Music to Crash Your Car To: Vol. 1'' and ''
Vol. 2'', featuring the music from their entire career. The titles of the collections were heavily criticized by
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish Rock music, rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when ...
singer
Michael Monroe, among others, due to their possible reference to Neil and Razzle's fatal automobile accident, and that Neil was found guilty of manslaughter for the incident.
2004–2007: Reunion and renewed success
A promoter in England, Mags Revell, began clamoring for a Mötley Crüe reunion, ostensibly presenting himself as the voice of anxious fans waiting for more from the band. After meeting with management several times, in September 2004, Sixx announced that he and Neil had returned to the studio and had begun recording new material. In December 2004, the four original members announced a reunion tour, staging an announcement event in which they arrived at the Hollywood Palladium in a hearse. The tour began on February 14, 2005, in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
. The resulting compilation album, ''
Red, White & Crüe'', was released in February 2005. It features the band members' favorite original songs plus three new tracks, "
If I Die Tomorrow", "
Sick Love Song" (co-written by Sixx and
James Michael), and a cover of
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
' "
Street Fighting Man". A small controversy was caused when it was suggested that neither Lee nor Mars played on the new tracks (duties were supposedly handled by
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...
drummer
Josh Freese). However, a
VH1 documentary of the band's reunion later showed that Lee did indeed play on some of the tracks. The Japanese release of ''Red, White & Crüe'' includes an extra new track titled "I'm a Liar (and That's the Truth)". ''Red, White & Crüe'' charted at No. 6 and has since gone platinum.
On New Year's Eve 2004 the band appeared on a live episode of ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
''. Neil yelled an obscenity during the performance, leading to an
FCC investigation. The
NBC network responded by banning the band, leading to the band subsequently suing the network, claiming they were being unfairly punished. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court and the band made several subsequent appearances on the network.
In 2005, Mötley Crüe was involved in an animation-comedy spoof ''Disaster!'', which was written by Paul Benson and Matt Sullivan and which was used as the introduction film to concerts on their Carnival of Sins tour. That tour continued throughout 2005 and was commemorated with the release of a
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...
and DVD in 2006. In the fall of 2005 the band re-recorded "Home Sweet Home" as a duet with
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...
lead singer
Chester Bennington
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
and donated the proceeds to the victims of
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
.
In 2006, Mötley Crüe went on the
Route of All Evil Tour
Route or routes may refer to:
* Air route, route structure or airway
* GPS route, a series of one or more GPS waypoints
* Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver
* Route (command), a program used to configure the routing tabl ...
, co-headlining with
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
and taking performers from
Lucent Dossier Experience on the road with them. 2006 also saw the band sign with
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
and
MTV Films
MTV Entertainment Studios (formerly MTV Production Development from 2003 until 2018 and MTV Studios from 2018 until 2021) is an American film and television Film production, production and Film distribution, distribution company and is the film ...
to adapt their autobiography ''The Dirt'' into a movie, but the production was delayed for several years and the deal eventually fell through. In June 2007, Mötley Crüe set out on a small European tour. A lawsuit was filed by Neil, Mars and Sixx against
Carl Stubner, Lee's manager. The three sued him for contracting for Lee to appear on two unsuccessful reality shows the band claim hurt its image. It was later reported on Motley.com that the lawsuit had been settled.
In 2007, Sixx published his diaries as the bestselling autobiography ''
The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star'', covering the band's ''Girls, Girls, Girls'' world tour and his 1987 overdose, and Sixx's side project band
Sixx:A.M. released ''
The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack'' as a musical parallel to the novel.
2008–2010: ''Saints of Los Angeles''
Vince Neil (not the band) hosted the Motley Cruise from January 24 to 28 in 2008; this featured
Ratt
Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...
,
Skid Row and
Slaughter.
On June 11, 2008, Mötley Crüe and manager Burt Stein filed suit against each other. Stein was Neil's personal manager and also, according to the band and rival manager Kovac, served as the band's manager at one time. The band and Kovac sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming Stein was not entitled to a cut of Mötley Crüe's earnings. Stein sued the same day in Nashville's federal court, saying he was entitled to 1.875 percent of what the band makes. Other litigation between the parties also ensued in Nevada. In July 2009, lawyers for both sides announced that the disputes had been "amicably resolved" through a "global settlement".
Mötley Crüe's ninth studio album, titled ''
Saints of Los Angeles'', was released in Japan on June 17, 2008, and in America on June 24, 2008. The album was originally titled ''The Dirt'', as it was loosely based on the band's autobiography of the same name, but the title was later changed. In the US, the album was released by
Eleven Seven Music. Eleven Seven also took over US distribution of their back catalog.
iTunes picked "
Saints of Los Angeles" in their "Best of 2008" in the Rock category as the number one song. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category, but lost to "
Wax Simulacra" by
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...
. The song was released in the music game series ''
Rock Band
''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...
'' as downloadable content the day the single was released. It was briefly sold as a ''Rock Band'' exclusive, making Mötley Crüe the first band to release a single exclusively through a
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
. The song sold more units via ''Rock Band'' than it did via traditional streaming sites. Additionally, the entire ''
Dr. Feelgood'' album was released as downloadable content in ''Rock Band'', excluding "T.n.T. (Terror 'n Tinseltown)".
From July 1 to August 31, 2008, Mötley Crüe headlined the popular
Crüe Fest music festival, which included opening acts
Buckcherry,
Papa Roach
Papa Roach is an American Rock music, rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, drummer Dave Buckner, guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luth ...
,
Trapt
Trapt is an American rock band formed in Los Gatos, California. Nine studio albums have been recorded to date: ''Amalgamation'' (1999), '' Trapt'' (2002), '' Someone in Control'' (2005), '' Only Through the Pain'' (2008), '' No Apologies'' (2 ...
, and
Sixx:A.M. They then spent the fall and winter of that year on tour with
Hinder,
Theory of a Deadman and
The Last Vegas.
The band made a guest appearance in the fourth season finale of the
FOX crime dramedy ''
Bones'' on May 14, 2009, entitled "The End in the Beginning", performing the song "
Dr. Feelgood". The following month they performed at the
Download Festival
Download Festival is a rock festival created by Andy Copping, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 2019); Flemington ...
at the
Donington Park motorsports circuit (June 12–14, 2009), playing on the second stage on Friday night.
Mötley Crüe headlined the ''
Crüe Fest 2'' festival, which ran from July to September 2009. Supporting them were
Godsmack,
Theory of a Deadman,
Drowning Pool, and
Charm City Devils. The band's set celebrated the 20th anniversary of ''
Dr. Feelgood'' by performing the album in its entirety on each night of the tour. They also re-released the album as a special 20th anniversary deluxe edition.
Mötley Crüe headlined
Ozzfest
Ozzfest was an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband O ...
in 2010, along with
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
and
Rob Halford. Neil also released his
third solo album and autobiography, both entitled ''Tattoos and Tequila''.
2011–2015: The Final Tour and retirement from touring
Mötley Crüe co-headlined a
mid-year tour with
Poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
and special guests
New York Dolls
New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...
in 2011 for the band's 30th Anniversary and Poison's 25th anniversary. On August 30, 2011, Mötley Crüe, along with co-headliners
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
and special guests
Steel Panther, announced a
UK Tour commencing in December 2011.
In February 2012 the band appeared along with supermodel
Adriana Lima in a commercial for the
Kia Optima, which premiered during
Super Bowl XLVI. February 2012 also saw the band host its first
residency at the
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. In March 2012, Mötley Crüe announced a
co-headlining tour with
Kiss
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
. The tour kicked off July 20 in Bristow, Virginia, and ran through September 23. In the spring and summer of 2013 the band toured throughout Canada with
Big Wreck
Big Wreck are a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed by Ian Thornley and Brian Doherty in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1992. The band was rounded out with David Henning and Forrest Williams. They disbanded in 2002 and Ian Thornley pursued ...
. The band returned to Las Vegas for a second residency in the fall of 2013.
On January 28, 2014, at the conference inside Beacher's Madhouse Theater in Hollywood, Mötley Crüe announced the full details of its retirement, including a tour initially spanning 70 North American dates, with
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
playing as a special guest. The tour commenced in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 2, 2014. The band members had signed a "cessation of touring agreement", which prevented them from touring under the Mötley Crüe name beyond the end of 2015. In a later interview, Sixx talked about the possibility of releasing new music, saying that "We have music written,
utit's not put together yet". He also speculated that the band would release it in a song-by-song format as opposed to a full-length album format, elaborating with "It's hard, to be honest with you, to spend six
rnine months to write eleven songs—all those lyrics ... everything ... the vocals, the guitars, the bass, the sonics, the mixing, the mastering, the artwork. ... You put it out and nothing
appens because now people cherry-pick songs. So we go, 'Why don't we write songs and find vehicles to get one, two or four songs to ten million people rather than eleven songs to a hundred thousand people."
During the tour the band played a new song, "All Bad Things", over the speakers throughout the venue before it took the stage. On November 22, 2014, in
Spokane, Washington
Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
, at the
Spokane Arena, Mötley Crüe played the final concert of the first North American leg of The Final Tour.
On January 15, 2015, it was announced that the band's career would end with international concerts in Japan, Australia, Brazil and Europe before heading out for a second leg of North American concerts throughout 2015, ending with a concert at the
MGM Grand Garden Arena
The MGM Grand Garden Arena is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena within the MGM Grand Las Vegas, MGM Grand resort, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The venue opened on December 31, 1993, with a concert by Barbra Streisand, and s ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
on December 27, followed by three concerts at
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...
on December 28, 30 and 31, 2015. In May 2015, The Crüe and Alice Cooper announced a set of 12 concert dates for Europe at a conference in London.
On September 19, 2015, the band played the
Rock in Rio festival on the main stage.
Mötley Crüe performed, for what was then advertised to be the last time, at
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
on December 31, 2015. The band reported that its New Year's Eve show was going to be released as a film in 2016; the movie was titled ''Motley Crue: THE END''.
2018–2022: Reunion, ''The Dirt'' film and return to touring
In 2017, frontman Vince Neil told host
Sammy Hagar on the show ''
Rock and Roll Road Trip'' that Mötley Crüe were "completely done". However, on September 13, 2018, Neil announced via
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
that Mötley Crüe was recording four new songs;
this was later also confirmed by bassist Nikki Sixx, who said that the new material was recorded for the film adaptation of the band's biography, ''
The Dirt''.
Neil also clarified that, though the band has signed a contract to no longer tour, they still plan to continue putting out new music for the future.
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
released ''The Dirt'' biopic based on the book of the same name that coincided with an 18-song soundtrack on March 22, 2019. The film is directed by
Jeff Tremaine
Jeff Tremaine (born September 4, 1966) is an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (TV series), Jackass'' with Spike Jonze and Johnny Knoxville.
...
(''
Jackass''), produced by Julie Yorn and Erik Olsen, executive produced by Rick Yorn,
and co-produced by Kovac, who is Mötley Crüe's manager, CEO of
Eleven Seven Label Group and founder of Tenth Street Entertainment.
''The Dirt'' stars
Daniel Webber as Neil,
Iwan Rheon (''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
'') as Mars,
Douglas Booth as Sixx and Colson Baker (a.k.a.
Machine Gun Kelly) as Lee.
Also starring in the movie is
Pete Davidson
Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...
(''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'') as record executive Tom Zutaut.
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' wrote that ''The Dirt'' is "a truly debauched movie that delves deep into their rise from the early Eighties Sunset Strip metal scene to their days as arena headliners."
The film portrays many of the adventures the band went on including touring with
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
and the ''
Theatre of Pain'' tour.
The first new song from the soundtrack was "The Dirt (Est.1981)", which was released on February 22, 2019. The band wrote two other new songs, "Ride With the Devil" and "Crash and Burn", and covered
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
's "
Like a Virgin", on the album. The soundtrack additionally included fourteen previously released Mötley Crüe songs. It was produced by
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician.
In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
, who produced ''Dr. Feelgood'', and was released on March 22, 2019, on
Mötley Records and Eleven Seven Music.
The soundtrack hit the Billboard Top 10 at No. 10, the first time Mötley Crüe hit the Billboard Top 10 in over a decade.
The group's legacy was also featured on a 2019 episode of the
Reelz documentary series ''Breaking the Band''. Both Neil and Sixx had a negative reaction to how things were portrayed in the episode. Sixx said they would be pursuing legal action and called Reelz "the bottom of the barrel".
In November 2019, rumors started to circulate of the band reuniting for a 2020 tour with
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
and
Poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
, following the success of
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
'
reunion tour. The band responded to an online petition rallying for the group's return, saying "this is interesting...". On November 18, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine reported that all four band members had agreed to come back together for the tour, utilizing a loophole in their "Cessation of Touring" contract. Later that same day, the band confirmed all reports with a statement on their website, posting a press release and a video of the contract being destroyed. On December 4, 2019, it was officially confirmed that Mötley Crüe would embark on
The Stadium Tour with
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
,
Poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
and
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts in the summer of 2020. Also in December 2019 Mick Mars announced that his debut solo album would be released in the spring of 2020. On June 1, 2020, Mötley Crüe announced that The Stadium Tour would be rescheduled to June–September 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
; it was postponed once again to 2022, due to similar circumstances amid the pandemic.
In January 2022, in the wake of the
Omicron variant surge, Sixx was asked by a fan on Twitter if The Stadium Tour was still happening this year; his response was, "We're 1000% hitting the road with Def Leppard for The Stadium Tour in mid-June...I can't f'ckin wait..." Mötley Crüe later joined Def Leppard again for another tour together in Europe in 2023.
In November 2021, Mötley Crüe sold their entire back catalogue to
BMG Rights Management
BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label.
BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...
.
In September 2022, Neil announced in an interview with the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' that the band would return for a US tour in 2023. In that same interview, he also ruled out the possibility of further studio albums, stating that they were "strictly a touring band".
2022–present: Retirement of Mick Mars and ''Cancelled''
On October 26, 2022, Mick Mars retired as a touring member of the band due to ongoing health issues, according to a statement released by Mars' publicist. The next day, the band confirmed that
John 5 would take Mars' place as their new touring guitarist,
although he was later confirmed as a permanent member of the band in April 2023.
In a December interview with A Radio Rock in Brazil, Sixx confirmed that the band was not going away anytime soon, and stated that the band would be touring for eight more years.
On April 6, 2023, Mars sued the band, alleging that they were trying to remove him.
In response to the lawsuit, the band issued a statement on the same day, denying that they had fired Mars, and that while he was still a member, had quit touring.
On April 19, 2023, the band announced that they were working on new music with record producer
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician.
In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
, ruling out the possibility of the band working with Mars again.
Sixx later released a statement on a then-upcoming album on May 15, 2023, stating that it had finished production and the band had begun mixing the album. In June 2023, Neil confirmed that they were set to perform another stadium tour in 2024. In the following month, he confirmed that the band recorded three brand new songs. In September 2023, John 5 confirmed the title of a new song as "Dogs of War". He also said that the band recorded a cover of "
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" by the
Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...
.
On April 23, 2024, it was announced that Mötley Crüe had signed a deal with
Big Machine Records, and three days later the band released "Dogs of War", their first song in five years and their first with John 5. Neil told ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' that same month that additional music from Mötley Crüe could be released by the end of 2024 or in 2025, but also stated that new material could result in "a few songs here, a few songs there" rather than a full-length album. Lee did not rule out releasing a new Mötley Crüe album, but stated that "recording and writing some stuff that you're feeling right at the moment and releasing it is, for us, a lot more a lot more fun and sort of a time stamp of where we're at right now." Sixx said that the band had recorded two other new singles that were ready to be released. A new EP, titled ''
Cancelled'', was released on October 4, 2024.
Feuds and criticisms
Metallica
Often clashing during the early 1980s, both bands were fighting for dominance in the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
metal scene during
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
's years prior to their relocation to the
Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
. Both singer/guitarist
James Hetfield
James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his raspy voice and intricate rhythm playi ...
and drummer
Lars Ulrich expressed their hatred of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles during the time and frequently attacked multiple up-and-coming local bands in multiple interviews, including Mötley Crüe. Allegedly before a show in 1982, Ulrich claimed he drunkenly screamed "Fuck Mötley Crüe!" at the band from outside the
Troubadour
A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''.
The tr ...
in Hollywood, in which Sixx chased Ulrich in retaliation. Former lead guitarist
Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...
during a 1983 interview had also taken aim at the band by claiming the Crüe and glam metal were an abbreviation for "Gay LA Music". Though despite their public disdain for glam metal, Metallica were impressed by the production and commercial success of ''Dr. Feelgood'' in 1989, later hiring the album's producer
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician.
In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
to produce their
self-titled fifth album in 1991. Several years later, both Sixx and Ulrich would reignite the animosity after Ulrich accused Mötley Crüe of performing to a backing track at the
1997 American Music Awards. Sixx responded via an online forum and would also attack Metallica's then-recent album ''
Load'' insulting multiple members of the band for their change in sound and visual image. During a 2003 interview, Sixx would strangely defend Metallica's then-latest album ''
St. Anger'' by claiming "I have learned to have sympathy for the enemy". In 2006, both Tommy Lee and former Metallica bassist
Jason Newsted took part in a reality show entitled ''
Rock Star: Supernova'' as they would both participate in creating a supergroup while the show's premise revolved around finding a frontman via contest. During a 2011 meet-and-greet in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, Hetfield was approached by a fan attacking Mötley Crüe due to their public image and frequent appearances in tabloids. Hetfield refused to directly respond to the fan's comments towards Mötley Crüe but did find humor in his insults toward the band. In 2015, Lee would reignite the feud when he posted a Tweet featuring a picture of Ulrich with the words "Straight Outta Tempo" superimposed over his face. Lee presumably used a meme maker intended to promote the 2015
N.W.A biopic ''
Straight Outta Compton''. Following the post by Lee, Vince Neil had stated online that he was unaware of the feud with Metallica; however, during a later interview with an
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
radio show, Neil was again asked about the band's current relationship with Metallica and hung up on the show's host. Things were alleged to have calmed down by 2017, when Hetfield appeared on Sixx's radio show 'Sixx Sense'. During an interview in 2021, Sixx applauded Metallica's longevity and praised several of their releases during an interview.
Guns N' Roses
Though
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
were initially hired to open for Mötley Crüe during the summer of 1987, things grew hostile between both sides in 1988 after Vince Neil alleged that then-Guns N' Roses guitarist
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he re ...
had assaulted his then-wife Sharise at the famed Cathouse club, according to Neil and club owner
Riki Rachtman. Things came to a breaking point at the
1989 MTV Video Music Awards following Mötley Crüe's presentation of the award for 'Best Metal Video' to Guns N' Roses; however, only bassist
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the b ...
and drummer
Steven Adler appeared at the stage to accept it. Following their performance with
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...
, Neil rushed the side of the stage and threw a punch at Stradlin before being restrained by security. Guns N' Roses frontman
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...
was enraged with the incident, threatening Neil after security had separated the two. During an interview in August 1990, Rose later challenged Neil to a fight during an interview with
Kurt Loder, claiming "Anytime he wants it, Atlantic City; I Don't Care, We'll put money on it." Neil responded in early 1991 by also challenging Rose to a fight: "Axl if you are watching this, I want to challenge you to a fight. I'm gonna give you time and I'm gonna give you the place. There's no backing out now buddy. It's time to put up or shut up.", later expressing his intent to possibly host the fight in an arena. Reportedly,
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...
and then-current
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
singer
Sammy Hagar had offered money to possibly host the fight at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in New York City. However, for unknown reasons, neither Rose or Neil responded to the offer. Neil claims Stradlin had called him with an apology for the incident, but the 1991 Guns N' Roses track "Shotgun Blues" was allegedly a
diss track
A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...
aimed at Neil. Tensions were reported to have died down shortly afterwards when both Tommy Lee and former Guns N' Roses guitarist
Gilby Clarke
Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...
participated with former Metallica bassist
Jason Newsted in a reality show entitled ''Rockstar: Supernova'', as they would contribute musical parts in the show's contest to find a vocalist of the newly formed supergroup. Things remained cordial until 2009 when Neil had lobbed insults towards Rose in response to Guns N' Roses' most recent album, ''
Chinese Democracy'', calling the record a flop and criticizing Rose for his management of the band at the time. In 2014, ''Revolver'' magazine honored Rose by calling him "The World's Greatest Singer"; in response, Neil jokingly mocked the award on Twitter, but deleted his response shortly afterward.
Godsmack
The feud between
alternative metal
Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
band
Godsmack and Mötley Crüe stems from the two sides clashing after Godsmack was hired as one of several supporting acts for Mötley Crüe during the band's 2009
Crüe Fest 2 tour. Godsmack frontman
Sully Erna
Salvatore Paul Erna Jr. (born February 7, 1968) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter, best known as the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for rock band Godsmack. He is also a harmonica player, drummer, and percussionist, performing these ...
and drummer
Shannon Larkin have claimed the feud originated from Mötley Crüe's treatment of the support bands on tour, particularly Godsmack's fans who allegedly often left venues early following their own performance. Larkin recalls in a 2011 interview with ''
Loudwire
''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...
'': "Mötley Crüe's security were real weird with our guests getting backstage, like our guests might want to look at Mötley Crüe. Our guests were there to see us and they didn't care a shit about Mötley Crüe. Mötley Crüe is a legendary band that we all respect. When I was 17, I had 'Shout at the Devil' but it just kind of fronted us a little that they would think that our guests would be star-struck over them. So, that's where the bad blood came from." Sully Erna allegedly penned the 2010 track "
Cryin' Like a Bitch" about Sixx in regards to his behavior towards Godsmack during the tour, though Shannon Larkin claims the song was written about former
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
quarterback
Philip Rivers. Sixx continued in a war of insults with the band as he alleged that Godsmack had asked to appear on his radio show multiple times, due to initial allegations of it being written as a
diss track
A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...
aimed at Sixx. During a 2015 appearance on the "Jasta Show" (hosted by
Hatebreed frontman
Jamey Jasta), Erna would attack Sixx further by calling Sixx an "old, fat, washed-up has-been". Erna continued the tirade by even challenging Sixx to a fight, claiming: "I'll say it straight out: I've never met a bigger fucking dick in my life than Nikki Sixx. He's a douchebag. He's straight-up a fucking douche, and I don't give a fuck what he says. He knows exactly where I am, and he knows exactly how he can find me anytime that motherfucker has the balls to come and look me up". Sixx responded to Erna's comments on a Facebook livestream, calling him a "baby". Sixx would also claim the band would refuse any future festival dates if they were booked on the same bill as Godsmack.
Steel Panther
The comedic glam metal band
Steel Panther engaged in a feud with Mötley Crüe following a tour between the two bands and
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
in 2011. Numerous members of Steel Panther claim they were heavily influenced by Mötley Crüe's music; however, touring with the band exhibited a hostile environment, particularly from Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee. In the years following the tour, guitarist
Satchel
A satchel is a bag with a strap, traditionally used for carrying books.Satchel
The Cambridge Dictionary. ...
claimed Tommy Lee had been rather hostile towards multiple band members due to allegations that he and singer
Michael Starr had sex with Lee's girlfriend at the time. Starr also commented on Mötley Crüe's other feud with Godsmack, claiming Sully Erna would severely beat Sixx in a fistfight. In a 2015 interview, Starr would claim the members of Mötley Crüe take themselves too seriously given the comedic nature of Steel Panther's music. Sixx would respond in 2016 claiming he prioritized taking his musical contributions much more seriously. During a 2018 interview, Satchel claimed "There are bands that hate our guts... We did a tour a few years ago with Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe". Things escalated in 2019 when drummer
Stix Zadinia and Starr appeared in a video on the channel 'Little Punk People' where the two were asked which dead musicians they could revive; Starr jokingly claimed he wanted to bring back Vince Neil from the 1980s, enraging Sixx, who later attacked Starr on Twitter for his comment. Shortly following the response from Sixx, Steel Panther's band account replied with an interview Mötley Crüe gave from 1994 (whilst Neil was not a part of the band), in which Sixx and guitarist Mick Mars mocked and joked at Neil's weight following a jet ski accident. Though Mötley Crüe would not respond to the post, multiple band members of Steel Panther have praised Mötley Crüe's music as influential in multiple interviews afterwards.
Former Mötley Crüe members
Mick Mars
On October 27, 2022, co-founding guitarist
Mick Mars publicly announced his retirement from touring with the band after 41 years due to complications with
ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative form of inflammatory arthritis leaving him unable to perform on tour. Shortly afterwards, the band announced longtime
Rob Zombie
Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...
guitarist
John 5 would be his replacement during the ongoing tour. In an interview with ''
Ultimate Guitar'' dated March 13, 2023,
Carmine Appice, a friend of Mars', claimed that Mars, in addition to his declining health, had lost enjoyment for touring. Enraged with the comments, Nikki Sixx responded on Twitter, attacking Appice, referring to him as "a washed up drummer." Following Sixx's comments, Mars began to attack the band during an interview with ''
Variety'' published April 6, 2023, claiming the band's severance payout was 'laughable' as his royalties had allegedly been cut to 7.5% as a result of his retirement. Mars further claimed he was forced to retire as opposed to being fired by the band based on their own displeasure with his medical ailments.
On April 7, 2023, Mars publicly filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe in the
Los Angeles County Superior Court
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Courts of California, Superior Court located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States.
The Sup ...
for unpaid royalties, claiming the band had severely cut his touring royalty agreement from 25% to 5% as a direct result of his retirement. The band's representative Sasha Frid had revealed claims that a 2008 legal agreement signed by all four band members had documented that no resigning participants would receive the same compensation attributable to live performances or merchandise sales if a particular member had chosen to quit the band. Mars' attorney Ed McPherson publicly attacked the band in a statement due to their failure to reveal updated financial documents in regards to Mars' payout agreement following his retirement in October. According to Mars' accounts in the lawsuit, the band had also forced him to sell off his remaining share in the band, labeling their behavior as 'bullying'. Nikki Sixx would make a public statement on Twitter expressing his disappointment with the lawsuit but offered his public support for Mars nonetheless. Following this statement Mars would further attack the band in a ''Variety'' article, taking aim at Lee and Neil for their previous legal incidents and alleged the band had been performing with a backing track throughout the tour.
During an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' on July 3, 2023, Mars elaborated further by claiming he has refused to speak with any members of the band ever again, stating his intention to pursue his full royalty percentage. , the matter remained in litigation.
John Corabi
Following the firing of Vince Neil in 1992, Mötley Crüe hired John Corabi as their new lead singer prior to the recording of their 1994 self-titled album. Fan reactions were mixed due to the uncharted nature of the band's change in sound with Corabi, in addition to their new stylistic direction of the 1990s. As the band began writing for their upcoming seventh album, ''
Generation Swine'', tensions over the album's creative direction began to surface between the band and Corabi. Corabi blamed much of the poor songwriting and production on Nikki Sixx's leadership, while Sixx blamed Corabi for being unable to write songs fluidly. The band had previously hired new manager Allen Kovac in 1994 prior to the release of the self-titled album; however, the mixed response to the record in addition to backlash towards Corabi from longtime fans proved to be strenuous on the band's public image, resulting in the band firing Corabi during the recording of ''Generation Swine''. The band were forced by management and fan responses to rehire Neil, however; tensions with Corabi remained high for multiple years following the split. Corabi would later sue the band in 1997 due to removal of his songwriting credits on the album. Despite the tensions, Corabi took part in a short-lived supergroup with Sixx entitled
Brides of Destruction with
L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...
guitarist
Tracii Guns
Tracy Irving Richard Ulrich (born January 20, 1966), known professionally as Tracii Guns, is an American guitarist best known as the co-founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns, as well as the Supergroup (music), supergroups Brides of Destruction ...
in 2003. Corabi later outlined his tensions with Sixx would resurface during the project and would attack Sixx during multiple public interviews for his poor leadership and even insulted his playing abilities. Following guitarist Mick Mars' lawsuit against the band in 2023, Corabi expressed his support for Mars while criticizing the band's poor financial decisions.
Musical style and legacy
Mötley Crüe's musical style is most commonly described as
heavy metal,
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...
,
and
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
.
According to
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, the band has "a knack for melding
pop hooks to heavy metal
theatrics."
The band explored
alternative metal
Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
and
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
sounds on ''Mötley Crüe'' (1994) and
industrial rock on ''Generation Swine'' (1997).
Music critic
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...
's book ''
The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time'' lists seven of the band's songs in its ranking. Mötley Crüe was ranked tenth on MTV's list of "Top 10 Heavy Metal Bands of All-Time" and ninth on "VH1's All Time Top Ten Metal Bands". Music website ''
Loudwire
''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...
'' named the band the 22nd greatest metal band of all time. ''
Spin'' named ''Shout at the Devil'' the 11th best metal album of all time. In 2013 ''
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'' named the band the 3rd best "hair metal" band of all time.
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' named ''Too Fast For Love'' the 22nd best metal album of all time.
In 2006, the band received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
.
In 2014, the tribute album ''
Nashville Outlaws'' was released, featuring country music stars including
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...
,
LeAnn Rimes
Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at the age of 13 and has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Christian, and o ...
and
Darius Rucker
Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carol ...
covering various Mötley Crüe songs. The album debuted at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Country Album chart and number 5 on the ''Billboard'' 200.
Band members
Current members
*
Nikki Sixx – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1981–2002, 2004–2015, 2018–present)
*
Tommy Lee
Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects.
Early ...
– drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals (1981–1999, 2004–2015, 2018–present)
*
Vince Neil – lead vocals, occasional guitar (1981–1992, 1997–2002, 2004–2015, 2018–present)
*
John 5 – guitars, backing vocals (2023–present; touring 2022–2023)
Current touring musicians
*Laura D'Anzieri – backing vocals, dancer (2022–present)
*Bailey Swift – backing vocals, dancer (2022–present)
*Hannah Sutton – backing vocals, dancer (2022–present)
*Ariana Rosado – backing vocals, dancer (2023–present)
Former members
*
Greg Leon – guitars, lead vocals (1981)
*
Mick Mars – guitars, backing vocals (1981–2002, 2004–2015, 2018–2023; retired from touring 2022–2023)
*
Michael White – lead vocals (1981)
*
John Corabi – lead vocals, guitar, bass, piano (1992–1997)
*
Randy Castillo – drums, percussion (1999–2000; died 2002)
Former touring musicians
* Emi Canyn – backing vocals (1987–1991; died 2017)
* Donna McDaniel – backing vocals (1987–1991)
* Jozie DiMaria – dancer (1999, 2005–2006)
*
Pearl Aday – backing vocals (2000)
*
Samantha Maloney – drums (2000–2002)
*
Will Hunt – drums (2006, 2007, 2008)
*
Morgan Rose – drums (2009)
* Allison Kyler – backing vocals, dancer (2011–2015)
* Annalisia Simone – backing vocals, dancer (2011)
*
Sofia Toufa – backing vocals, dancer (2012–2015)
*
Glen Sobel – drums (2015; substitute for Tommy Lee)
*
Tommy Clufetos – drums (2022; substitute for Tommy Lee)
Timeline
Awards and nominations
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Too Fast for Love'' (1981)
* ''
Shout at the Devil'' (1983)
* ''
Theatre of Pain'' (1985)
* ''
Girls, Girls, Girls'' (1987)
* ''
Dr. Feelgood'' (1989)
* ''
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, 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 sol ...
'' (1994)
* ''
Generation Swine'' (1997)
* ''
New Tattoo'' (2000)
* ''
Saints of Los Angeles'' (2008)
Tours
* Anywhere, USA Tour (1981)
* Boys in Action Tour (1981–1982)
* Crüesing Through Canada Tour (1982)
* Shout at the Devil Tour (1983–1984)
* Welcome to the Theatre of Pain Tour (1985–1986)
* Girls, Girls, Girls Tour (1987)
* Dr. Feelgood World Tour (1989–1990)
*
Monsters of Rock Tour (1991)
* Anywhere There's Electricity Tour (1994)
* Live Swine Listening Party Tour (1997)
* Mötley Crüe vs. The Earth Tour (1997)
* Greatest Hits Tour (1998–1999)
* Maximum Rock Tour (1999)
* Welcome to the Freekshow Tour (1999)
* Maximum Rock 2000 Tour (2000)
* New Tattoo Tour (2000)
* Red, White & Crüe ... Better Live Than Dead Tour (2005)
* Carnival of Sins Tour (2005–2006)
* Mötley Crüe Tour (2007)
*
Crüe Fest Tour (2008)
* Saints of Los Angeles Tour (2008–2009)
*
Crüe Fest 2 Tour (2009)
* The Dead of Winter Tour (2010)
*
Ozzfest
Ozzfest was an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband O ...
Tour (2010)
* Glam-A-Geddon Tour (2011)
* Mötley Crüe 30th Anniversary Tour (2011)
* Mötley Crüe England Tour (2011)
* European Tour (2012)
*
The Tour (2012–2013)
* North American Tour (2013)
*
The Final Tour (2014–2015)
*
The Stadium Tour (2022)
*
The World Tour (2023)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motley Crue
1981 establishments in California
2015 disestablishments in California
Elektra Records artists
Glam metal musical groups from California
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups disestablished in 2015
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups reestablished in 2018
Musical quartets from California
Roadrunner Records artists