Mötley Crüe is infamous in the heavy metal genre, and no member is better known than drummer Tommy Lee. Lee has become known for his work in Mötley Crüe and rap metal band Methods of Mayhem. He also gained attention for his tumultuous relationship with Playboy model Pamela Anderson.
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Lee’s drumming style has set the bar for other heavy metal bands in many ways. Along with bandmates Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, and Vince Neil, he helped define the genre’s characteristics. Mötley Crüe was all about ostentatiousness, volume, energy, and shocking content. Lee’s performances, meanwhile, are characterized by over-the-top stunts. These have involved floating above the crowd or spinning in midair while drumming (and apparently, mooning the crowd during every show.)
His behavior offstage also defined the heavy metal persona. Lee was known for his heavy drug use and wild, sometimes violent behavior. This lifestyle made its way into the band’s lyrics, which celebrated depravity.
While Lee is known for his onstage talents and offstage scandals, his contributions as a songwriter haven’t always had their time in the spotlight. Lee worked with the other members of Mötley Crüe, particularly bassist Sixx, to write many of their biggest hits. Some of these, such as the 1987 title track of their album Girls, Girls, Girls, are now regarded as an essential part of Mötley Crüe’s discography.
Talented, shocking, and outrageous — Lee has been called it all. Here are five famous Mötley Crüe songs you might not know he helped write.
1. “Girls, Girls, Girls” — 1987
Written by Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, & Mick Mars
Wherever Mötley Crüe traveled, rumors of prostitutes, drugs, trashed hotels, and audience brawls followed. The band leaned into the image, which was largely accurate (bassist Nikki Sixx even overdosed that year but continued to use illegal drugs.) Their 1987 album Girls, Girls, Girls detailed their lifestyle of drinking heavily, using drugs and living on the road.
Lee wrote the album’s title track with Mars and Sixx. The song is an ode to strip clubs around the world. The lyrics mention several strip clubs, including the Tropicana, where Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil met his second wife.
Crazy Horse, Paris, France
Forgot them names, remember romance
I got the photos, a menage a trois
Musta broke those French’s laws with those
2. “All Bad Things Must End” — 2015
Written by Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, James Michael, & Tommy Lee
Mötley Crüe reunited briefly in 2015. Their song “All Bad Things Must End” was intended as their goodbye track, although the band members said they would consider reuniting. “All Bad Things Must End” was released as a single from their Greatest Hits album. It described how they chose to end Mötley Crüe rather than become dull and generic.
“It’s pretty heavy, but it’s really melodic,” Lee told Billboard. “It’s definitely about this time right now with the band and what the feeling is and kind of all that wrapped into a song. I hate to say it’s like a goodbye, but it definitely references our time here.”
All bad things must end, all bad things must die
Even the devil’s gotta pay for his crime
All bad things must end, all bad things must die
3. “Home Sweet Home” — 1985
Written by Nikki Sixx & Tommy Lee
Lee and Sixx wrote “Home Sweet Home” together in 1985. Sometimes called the original power ballad, the track was decidedly different from most of their other music. “Home Sweet Home” is about yearning to return home after too long on the road.
“The lyrics came out of that feeling of being gone so long and wanting to come back, which is ironic, right?” Sixx said in an interview on Mötley Crüe: The End — Live in Los Angeles. “Because all you ever want is to get in a band and go on the road, but then you’re on the road and you want to come home.”
Just take this song
And you’ll never feel left all alone
Take me to your heart
Feel me in your bones
Just one more night
And I’m coming off this long and winding road
4. “Misunderstood” — 1994
Written by John Corabi, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, & Mick Mars
If there is one thing that Mötley Crüe always knew how to do, it was writing a power ballad. One of the greatest was “Misunderstood” (1994), written by Lee with Sixx, Mars, and John Corabi. It tells the story of several people grappling with life’s meaning, especially as they realize they have wasted so much of theirs.
“Misunderstood” was the title track of the band’s album that year. It peaked at No. 24 on the Mainstream Rock Charts. It was Corabi’s final collaboration with Mötley Crüe before he left to pursue solo work, later forming the band Union.
Little boy with vacant eyes
Daddy won’t be home tonight
And he don’t know why
His mother she sits alone
Tangled in the web she’s sewn
She lives lie to lie
5. “Sex” — 2012
Written by Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, & James Michael
Mötley Crüe released “Sex” in 2012. The song was stripped of much of the flash and volume of their later music. Lee said it was a solid return to their earlier style while maintaining more modern musical techniques. Its release was similarly simple: the band released it for free digital download so fans could have quick and easy access. “Sex” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hard Rock Digital Songs chart.
“It’s got a retro Crüe kind of vibe to it — a simplistic riff,” Lee told Noisecreep. “But I also think the song has a modern sound to it. There’s some cool analog synths in it and a beat that is really funky and modern. So I guess you can say that it has a retro yet modern sound.”
Everybody wants some, what the hell
Everybody needs some, everybody yell
Ohh no
Don’t need no loving, no respect
Cos it’s all about the sex (SEX!)
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
