Motley Crue home sweet home

Motley Crue interview

I speak of the glory which is Motley Crue. How many double-platinum bands do you know who are anticipating the imminent Sweet reunion with joy? How many double-platinum bands do you know who sleep upside-down on their foreheads just to keep their shagdos looking great for you? How many double-platinum bands do you know who like to chew women's underthings? Okay, that's an easy one. But how many double-platinum bands do you know who have chewed David Lee Roth of Van Halen? There! And, I do not lie, this very thing- the squeal of leather pierced by gleaming canine, the sigh of thigh flesh rent by teeth, the grinding of molar on molar-happened just the other day at an end-of-tour party. We're not talking playful nibbles, flirtatious boyish nips either: major penicillin jobs. Along with drawing genitals on walls and drawing crowds to concerts and drawing great sums out of bank accounts to buy black Corvettes, Motley Crue like to draw blood.

"We bite the fuck out of people who come on the bus with us," says Nikki Sixx, matter- of-factly, as a god might in an offhand way mention zapping out a few murderous thunderbolts. What the hell, "we bite the fuck out of each other too. Tommy bites me and I bite him all the time. It's crazy." Also a little, er, suspect? "We bite our audiences too," Nikki comes back somewhat in- dignantly. "All the time! We get paid in flesh. Our audiences," he declares with affection, "are sluts."

"You've known the band since the beginning. We've always been seriously fucked up. We were always rowdy-we can't lie to you. We're not faking, we're just us. We drink and fuck and do drugs. Doesn't everybody? The only difference now is we can afford better drugs! People are going, 'Nikki, I've never seen you smile so much,' I'm happier right now than I've ever been in my whole life. I really didn't expect it to happen so quickly," a brief black cloud of pensiveness scuds across his eyes. "But it feels good," he perks up. "It feels good to walk into your record company offices and everybody's opening their doors and smiling and all the secretaries are going 'hi Nikki, how are you?,' all friendly, when it wasn't all that long ago they used to ignore us or run away screaming. Hey, you know us. We can't lie to you."

But the Top has its responsibilities, take heed my children. "We've got this image to live up to," he sighs. "Which is us. I mean most groups are faking the kids but we're not, it's not an image. But you can't be fucking girls 24 hours a day." No indeed, you've got to write a song and play a gig once in a while. But, in spite of these hardships, "We're having fun," beams Nikki. "Jesus, we're having fun."

I shan't go into details. Okay, you've twisted my arm, this is a sleazy rag if ever I've written for one, so I'll give you one or two. All females who wish to get on board the Motley Crue bus have, for some strange reason, to dishabille the upper portion of their torso; having been thus undignified, all those who wish to make it to the back of the bus have to present themselves as the Lord made them, and the stuff with bottles and the rest I won't touch with a 10-foot pole, some things being a bit too bizarre and boyish for even my tolerant tastes. What some people will do to meet Stars is and always has been incredible, when all they're getting to meet are people who throw up Jack Daniels and act like egocentric Mussolinis just like everybody else. But, to put an end to this aimless waffle:

I speak of the glory of the music which is Motley Crue! Glam and sleazy and loud and delinquent and catchy and arrogant with more hooks than an angling shop. "The reaction of the major labels," they recall, "was 'yeah, it's real good, but you'll have to change this and that. ' We decided we were not going to change nothing to fit into somebody else's concept, someone who sits in an office on the 17th floor and has never stood in an audience. We were always honest. Most of L.A. was fad- oriented, but we weren't intimidated, we just made the music we wanted to make: Motley Metal! Heavy with a hook. Noweverybody's doing it, especially in L.A. You can't believe the deals they're giving out. And these bands-1 don't mean it badly; OK, I do mean it badly!-two years ago they thought they were Van Halen, and now they're all trying to be Motley Crue. Make up your mind! Van Halen are Van Halen and we're us. We're not trying to be like anybody else. These bands get together and they can't make up their mind what they want to be like. They don't realize that being themselves is what's going to take them the farthest. God, if I see another band with stacked heels and black hair I'm going to throw up!"

Nikki's hair isn't all black these days. There's a fetching blood-red streak to one side, soon to be joined, he reckons, by a few more fetching hues. They still do their own hair-Nikki usually cuts it, they do the coloring themselves, and the rest is down to buckets of Pantene and Flex Net, blow- drying and boisterousness, and general all- round debauchery and dissipation. Oh yes, and sleeping on their foreheads.

"First you got to cut it real jaggedy. Then you need this stuff," a vicious-looking pump spray. "You can't use aerosol. Then you've got to dry you hair upside-down and pull it out while you do it. And of course," of I course! "You've got to sleep upside-down. You sleep on your forehead. When you wake up in the morning, your hair is all messed up. And you look at yourself and you say 'I look fine.' "

I speak of the glory of the look which is Motley Crue. Since I first met them, with that glorious cheap and tacky but oh-so-dear glitter-sleaze-look ratted hair, pale skin, killer leathers and stiletto heels and any garbage they managed to nick from bag ladies on the Hollywood streets-they've moved on to a more overblown, costume-and-made-up, air- brushed glam appearance.

"People say 'look at how much they've changed,' " says Nikki, "but it's been a gradual thing, not overnight. We were always developing, changing, It's just," he shrugs, "the money helps it change quicker I guess. But we didn't really get more glam. It took us years to perfect this sleazy look!

"We couldn't afford costumes like these before. Basically we were as outrageous as we are now two years ago. Nobody looked like us or dressed like us onstage. But now all these bands are starting to copy us, dressing like us, dyeing their hair black or white, so we have to go one step further, keep one step ahead of everybody. On the next album we'll probably be even weirder and stranger as it goes."

So where do they get their outfits? "K Mart. The 25-cent rack!" Honest? "We have a costume lady. The designs are given to her and she has them made up for us." Were they on drugs when they designed them? "We're on drugs now!"

Ah, the rewards of success. Wasn't that long ago Motley Crue couldn't even afford a case of Ripple. "That story about the turkey pies," Nikki reminds me-there they were, Christmas Eve, no food in the larder, no presents under the tree, hell, no tree! forced to disguise themselves as normal people and shoplift for frozen food in the supermarket-' 'That's true. People go 'yeah, right.' We stole a Christmas tree and put beer cans on it for decorations. And we had to play that day, so we woke up and looked at the Christmas tree, we took it out- side and we lit it on fire and left for the gig. "

It was, as Vince told me, "a really depressing time. It couldn't get any worse. Me and Nikki would go and sit under University Stereo, get drunk, sitting with the bums drinking, we'd buy some cheap wine and some vodka and we'd sit in the alleyway and drink, going, we're fairly good-Iooking guys, the band's alright, how come we're sitting , under here on the streets of Hollywood?"

"The Rainbow wouldn't let us in," recalls Nikki, "the Troubadour wouldn't let us in, the Whisky wouldn't let us in."

Because nobody loves you when you're down and out?

"No, because we started too many fights. I don't know why! We're normal-looking guys, aren't we? We look like football players? I don't know, trouble just seems to follow us." The difference is, being successful, the same trouble that got them kicked out of clubs now gets them amusing press and free drinks from club owners. The Whisky, I think it was, just recently gave them an open tab after a fistfight in the club for being "so amusing." Funny life, isn't it?

The turning-point, they reckon, was the tour they did with Ozzy Osbourn.e, that and getting good management after their original one-upped and left with all their money. ("Bastard" on Shout At The Devil, is dedicated to him.) "It was a rowdy tour! Still, a lot of people got to notice us and started taking us seriously. I think they realized that Motley Crue is for the kids, the songs are written for the kids, and we're genuine. And all the trouble we had with the management, we kind of had to stop and get everything organized around us, because we were so screwed up it was ridiculous. It looked inevitable that nothing was going to happen for us-we were going to break up at one point," shock, horror. "It was ridiculous. Then we got new management and we could do what we wanted to do. Everybody got their shit together and we just got on with doing what we do best, rock 'n' roll. We're honest to the kids. We go out there and kick ass and we want to do a great show. I always say, you're paying 20 bucks, I want to give you a $50 show. I think that's going to give us staying power.

"Plus," says Vince, "we're greedy."

So what it comes down to is Motley Crue are here, have no intention of going away ("the way things are going the sky's the limit! We're going to keep expanding, keep doing new things. Once you've tasted blood you don't want to give it up"; don't know what David Lee Roth will say about that!) and there's nothing you or lor anyone can do about it. In between the dissipation, as we said, they're writing the odd song- Nikki's been working on one about bloody crotches or some such thing and another about group sex, just to give you an idea (incidentally, he vehemently denies reports made by ex-Runaway Uta Ford that she wrote or co-wrote some of Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil" material during the year she spent living with the bass player). Mick Mars has been working on an instrumental and they're (if you don't know already the line-up's Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee) apparently doing an as yet unnamed cover song on the next LP. It'll be recorded at t:lome in L.A. with Tom Werman and Geoff Workman at the controls. And as for the new look to go along with it, "It should be more futuristic, more aggressive, hard-edged," says Nikki, "but cool."

The important thing in metal music, points out Nikki, is "the sleaze factor. There's some records that have got It, but not enough. I listen to the radio all the time, right-I listen to it before I go out for the night, and I listen to it when I get back and sometimes I listen to it in between" (cruising down the boulevard In his new Corvette, for example. They said on the news just the other day that L.A. has fewer traffic accidents than any other major U.S. city. They o obviously hadn't heard about Nikki's new purchase. Last Corvette he had, he turned into mashed metal on the way home from the Rainbow, ended up hitching a lift back to his apartment stark naked; should have seen the truck driver's face. Anyway, as I often do, I digress) "and what I listen for is a sleaze factor. Motley Crue has got the sleaze factor." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Motley Crue - If I Die Tomorrow

Biography

Mötley Crüe is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The band was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold more than 80 million album copies worldwide, including 25 million in the U.S.

The band members have often been noted for their hard-living lifestyles; all members have had numerous brushes with the law, have spent time in jail, have suffered long addictions to alcohol and drugs, have had countless escapades with women, and are heavily tattooed. Their ninth studio album entitled Saints of Los Angeles was released on June 24, 2008, while a film adaptation of their best-selling autobiography The Dirt is due to be released in 2011.

Mötley Crüe was formed on January 17, 1981 when bass guitarist Nikki Sixx left the band London and began rehearsing with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon. Lee had worked previously with Leon in a band called Suite 19 and the trio practiced together for some time with Leon eventually deciding not to continue. The bassist and drummer then began a search for new members. Sixx and Lee soon met guitarist Bob “Mick Mars” Deal. Mars was quickly auditioned and subsequently hired by Sixx and Lee. The newly formed band did not yet have a name. While trying to find a suitable name, Mars remembered an incident which 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 modifying the spelling slightly, “Mötley Crüe” was eventually selected as the band’s name, with the stylistic decision to add the two sets of umlauts supposedly inspired by the German beer Löwenbräu, which the members were drinking at the time. The group was still in need of a singer. Lee had known Vince Neil from their high school days at Royal Oak H.S. in Covina and the two had performed in different bands on the garage-band circuit. On seeing him perform with the band Rock Candy at the Starwood in Hollywood, Mars suggested Mötley Crüe hire Neil. At first Neil refused the offer. However, as the other members of Rock Candy became involved in outside projects, Neil grew anxious to try something else. When Lee made one final appeal to audition, Neil accepted and was hired.

The band soon met their first manager, Allan Coffman, “the thirty-eight-year-old brother-in-law of Mick’s driver friend Stick”. The band’s first release was the single “Stick to Your Guns/Toast of the Town,” which was released on their own label, Leathür Records, which had a pressing & distribution deal with Greenworld Distribution in Torrance. In November 1981, their 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 in late spring 1982. At Elektra’s insistence, the debut album was then re-mixed by producer Roy Thomas Baker and re-released on August 20, 1982, two months after its Canadian WEA 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 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, a spurious “bomb threat” against the band made the front page of the Edmonton Journal (June 9, 1982); assistant band manager Greif and Lee were interviewed. This too ended up being a staged PR stunt perpetrated by Greif. Lastly, Lee threw a television set from the upper story window of the Sheraton Caravan Hotel. Canadian rock magazine Music Express noted that the band were “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 and later Kiss (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 re-surfaced 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-based Bill Larson. Coffman eventually declared bankruptcy, as he had mortgaged his home at least three times to cover band expenses.

After playing the US Festival, and with the aid of the new medium of MTV, the band found rapid success in the United States. The band members were as well known for their backstage groupie antics, outrageous clothing, extreme high-heeled boots, heavy make-up, and seemingly endless abuse of alcohol and drugs as for their recordings. Their mixture of heavy metal and glam rock stylings produced several best-selling albums during the 1980s, including Shout at the Devil (September 26, 1983), Theatre of Pain (June 21, 1985), and Girls, Girls, Girls (May 15, 1987), which showcased their love of motorcycles, whiskey and strip clubs, and which told tales of substance abuse, sexual escapades, and general decadence.

The band members have also had their share of scrapes with the law and life. In 1984, Neil was driving home from a liquor store when he was in a head-on collision; his passenger, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, was killed. Neil, charged with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter, was sentenced to 30 days in jail (though he only served 18 days). The band would later release box sets entitled “Music to Crash Your Car To”.

On December 21, 1987, Sixx suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose. He was declared legally dead on the way to the hospital, but the medic, who was a Crüe fan, revived Sixx by giving him two shots of adrenaline to the heart, bringing him back to life. His two minutes in death were the inspiration for the song “Kickstart My Heart”, which peaked at #16 on the Mainstream U.S. chart, and which was featured on the 1989 album Dr. Feelgood. From 1986 to 1987, Sixx kept a daily diary of his heroin addiction and eventually entered rehab in January, 1988. In 2006, Sixx published his diaries as a best selling novel: The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, and in 2007 Sixx’s side project band Sixx: A.M. released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack as a musical parallel to the novel.

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 [of them] would come back in bodybags”. Shortly after, all the band members except for Mars underwent drug rehabilitation; Mars cleaned up on his own.

After finding sobriety in 1989, Mötley Crüe reached its peak popularity with the release of their fifth album, the Bob Rock produced Dr. Feelgood, on September 1, 1989. On October 14 of that year, it became a No. 1 album and stayed on the charts for 109 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, and indeed, it was their best selling album to date.[citation needed] The title track and Kickstart My Heart were both nominated for Grammys in the Best Hard Rock Category. [1] The band did find some success at the American Music Awards, as Dr. Feelgood was nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Award, losing once to Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, but winning the following year, beating out Aerosmith’s Pump and Poison’s Flesh And Blood. Mötley Crüe was also nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Artist. [2]

In 1989, Doc McGhee was fired after breaking several promises that he made to the band in relation to the Moscow Music Peace Festival including giving his other band, Bon Jovi, advantages with slot placement. Doug Thaler then soldiered on as sole band manager.

On October 14, 1991, the band’s sixth album, Decade of Decadence, a compilation, was released. It peaked at #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.
[edit] Years of Turmoil: 1992–2003

After Decade was released, Neil left the band in February 1992, at a time when other bands in the ’80s glam metal scene (Ratt, Stryper, White Lion, Europe & Britny Fox) also broke up. Poison also fired guitarist C.C. Deville around this same time. A controversy exists to this day over whether Neil was fired or quit. Sixx has long maintained that Neil quit the band. However, Neil disputes this and insists that he was fired. Neil was replaced by John Corabi (formerly of Angora and The Scream). Mötley Crüe’s commercial success waned throughout the 1990s, although their self-titled March 1994 release made the Billboard top ten (#7). Thaler would manage the band alone until 1994, at which time the band did a mass-firing when their album, Mötley Crüe, failed to meet commercial expectations.

The band reunited 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 #4, and in spite of a live performance at the American Music Awards, the album was a commercial failure, due in part to the band’s label’s lack of support (Elektra Records).[citation needed] The band soon left Elektra and created their own label, Mötley Records.

In 1998, Mötley Crüe’s contractual ties with Elektra Records had expired, putting the band in total control of their future. This included the ownership of the masters of all its albums. In announcing the end of their relationship with Elektra Records, the band became one of the few groups in history to own and control their publishing and catalogue of recorded masters. In 1999, the band re-released all their albums, dubbed as Crücial Crüe. The limited-edition digital re-masters included demos and previously unreleased tracks.

In 1999, Lee put his role in the band on hold to pursue a solo career due to increasing tension with frontman Neil. He was replaced by Randy Castillo, who drummed on several Ozzy Osbourne albums. Randy died of cancer on March 26, 2002. No replacement had been named, which sent the band into a hiatus following a 2000 tour in support of their studio release, New Tattoo. New Tattoo charted at #41 and sold less than 200,000 copies. Former Hole Drummer Samantha Maloney filled in on the tour to promote New Tattoo. The Salt Lake City performance of the tour is featured on the DVD Lewd, Crüed & Tattooed…

Within the following six years, Sixx played in the bands 58 and Brides of Destruction, while Lee formed Methods of Mayhem and performed as a solo artist. Neil continued touring on an annual basis as a solo artist, singing mostly Mötley Crüe songs. Mars, who suffers from a rare hereditary form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis, went into seclusion in 2001.

A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band 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.
[edit] Reunion and new album: 2004–present

A promoter in England, Mags Revell, started the ball rolling for Mötley Crüe’s reunion when he started a promotion that basically revealed how fans wanted the band to reunite. 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 which began February 14, 2005, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The band’s latest 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’ classic “Street Fighting Man”. A small controversy was caused when it was suggested that neither Tommy nor Mick played on the new tracks (duties were supposedly handled by Vandals drummer Josh Freese and ex-Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba). However, a VH1 documentary of the band reuniting would later show 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 #6 and has since gone platinum.

In 2006, Mötley Crüe went on the Route of All Evil Tour, co-headlining with Aerosmith. This was another well attended tour following the “Carnival of Sins” tour of 2005. In June 2007, Mötley Crüe set out on a small European tour. A lawsuit was recently 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.[citation needed] It was reported on Motley.com that the lawsuit has been settled.

On June 11, 2008, the band and manager Burt Stein filed suit against each other. Stein was Vince Neil’s personal manager and also, according to the band and rival manager Allen 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 Motley Crue’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.[10] 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.”[11]

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. Saints of Los Angeles features the band’s original lineup.

Mötley Crüe had announced that the movie The Dirt, based on the book written by Mötley Crüe and Neil Strauss, might be released in 2009. However, as of September 2009, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) lists 2011 as the probable release date. This is still subject to change, particularly because the “status” of the movie was listed as “unknown” in April 2009 (the date of IMDb’s last update to “The Dirt”)[12]. Rumors about the cast of characters in this movie include Christopher Walken as the famous rock and roll star Ozzy Osbourne and Val Kilmer as David Lee Roth[13].

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.

The track “Saints of Los Angeles” was released in the music game series Rock Band as downloadable content the day the single was released.

The band headlined the Download Festival in Donington Park (June 12-14, 2009), playing on the second stage on Friday night.

The band made a guest appearance in the season finale of “Bones” on May 14, 2009 entitled “The End In The Beginning”, performing the classic song “Dr. Feelgood”.

Mötley Crüe headlined “Crue Fest 2”, which ran from July to September 2009. Supporting them were Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool, and Charm City Devils. In addition to performing a set featuring material from Saints of Los Angeles, the band also celebrated the 20th anniversary of Dr. Feelgood by performing the album in its entirety on each night of the tour.[14]
[edit] Related work

In 2005, Mötley Crüe was involved in an animation-comedy spoof Disaster![15], 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.
[edit] Legacy

Acts such as Papa Roach, Buckcherry, Adelitas Way, Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Moby, Murderdolls, Backyard Babies, Private Line, Slipknot, The Living End, Belladonna, Mana, Hardcore Superstar, and Vains of Jenna have all cited Mötley Crüe as an influence in recent years, most notably for Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil. Disturbed drummer Mike Wengren has also cited Tommy Lee as an influence to his drumming. Mötley Crüe’s early look in music videos has also been parodied by a variety of artists such as Bowling for Soup, Beck, Red Hot Chili Peppers, New Order, Aerosmith and the Backstreet Boys.

The band has been featured on a number of VH1 countdown shows, “Dr. Feelgood” was ranked the #7 Greatest Air Guitar Song, “Live Wire” was ranked the #17 Greatest Metal Song Of All Time, and “Home Sweet Home” was ranked the #12 Greatest Power Ballad Of All Time.[16] Mötley Crüe was featured several times on VH1’s 100 Most Metal Moments, the highest spot being #3. VH1 included the Tommy Lee sex tapes, The Dirt, and Ozzy Osbourne’s and Nikki Sixx’s pee. all featured in the countdown. Mötley Crüe has also been one of the many bands featured on VH1’s Behind the Music. The band was also ranked #19 on VH1’s list of the most popular hard rock bands. Mötley Crüe was also ranked tenth on MTV’s list “Top 10 Heavy Metal Bands of All-Time”[17].

Building on the popularity and the desire of fans to see The Crüe between World tours, a wide variety of tribute acts who celebrate and pay homage to the different eras and albums over the years has developed. Red Hot, a tribute from L.A., captures the look and feel of the Shout at the Devil era with black and red leathers. Theatre of Pain captures the spandex and lipstick attitude of the album of the same name. And Carnival of Sins rounds out the tributes with a rendition of the current Crüe image that brings to mind the crüdeness of the Mötley moniker. The band even has an all-female version from New York City, Girls Girls Girls, who cover all eras of the band’s music without emulating the look of any specific Crüe era.
[edit] Band members

* Vince Neil - lead vocals, harmonica, ocassional guitar (1981–1992, 1997–present)
* Mick Mars - lead & rhythm guitars (1981–present)
* Nikki Sixx - bass, backing vocals (1981–present)
* Tommy Lee - drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals (1981–1999, 2004–present)

[edit] Former members

* John Corabi - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1992–1997)
* Randy Castillo - drums, percussion (1999–2002)
* Samantha Maloney - drums, percussion (2002–2004)

[edit] Discography
Main article: Mötley Crüe discography

* Too Fast for Love (1981)
* Shout at the Devil (1983)
* Theatre of Pain (1985)
* Girls, Girls, Girls (1987)
* Dr. Feelgood (1989)
* Decade of Decadence (1991)
* Mötley Crüe (1994)
* Generation Swine (1997)
* New Tattoo (2000)
* Saints of Los Angeles (2008)

[edit] Tours

* Anywhere, USA - Northern California Tour (1981)
* Too Fast For Love Tour (1981-1982)
* Crüesing Through Canada (1982)
* Mötley Crüe World Tour (1983-1984)
* Welcome To The Theatre Of Pain Tour (1985-1986)
* Girls, Girls, Girls World Tour 87/88 (1987)
* Moscow Music Peace Festival (1989)
* Dr. Feelgood World Tour ‘89 - ‘90 (1989-1990)
* Monsters Of Rock Tour 1991 (1991)
* Anywhere There’s Electricity Tour Of The Americas 1994 (1994)
* Anywhere There’s Electricity Japan Tour (1994)
* Live Swine Listening Party (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 (with Megadeth - 2000)
* New Tattoo Japan Tour 2000 (2000)
* Red, White & Crüe Tour 2005…Better Live Than Dead (2005)
* Carnival Of Sins Tour (2005-2006)
* Route of All Evil Tour (with Aerosmith - 2006)
* Mötley Crüe Tour 2007 (2007)
* Crüe Fest (with Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M. and Trapt - 2008)
* Saints Of Los Angeles World Tour (2008)
* Saints Of Los Angeles Tour (2009)
* Saints of Los Angeles European Tour (2009)
* Crüe Fest 2 (2009)

Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls