What can we dig up on Mötley Crüe that we don’t already know from reading the definitive 2001 autobiography The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band, or watching the “based-on” biopic that came out on Netflix in 2019? The sex, the drugs, the girls girls girls—we’ve likely heard it all about frontman Vince Neil, drummer Tommy Lee, bassist Nikki Sixx, and (now former) guitarist Mick Mars. Here’s a starter fact: their music and antics have led to sales of more than 100 million albums. Let that soak in, as we try and find five things you might not know.
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1. Vince Neil Lost a Daughter to Cancer
The singer, who has experienced his share of tragedy (including notoriously killing his friend Razzle of Hanoi Rocks in a drunk driving accident in the ’80s), lost his daughter, Skylar, in 1995 to Wilm’s Tumor, also known as nephroblastoma. She was just 4 years old. Since then, he and his ex-wife, Sharise Ruddell, have donated millions to children’s charities via the Skylar Neil Memorial Fund.
2. Sixx Was Declared Legally Dead
We know Sixx battled and beat his addictions, posting in July 2023 that he had been clean 22 years. But unless you’ve read The Dirt or Sixx’s first book, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, you might not be aware how bad it got. At one point, he was actually declared legally dead. On December 23, 1987, after overdosing on heroin, he was pronounced dead for two minutes. He was then revived by paramedics, who gave him two shots of adrenalin. Some media at the time actually reported Sixx had died—which, technically, was true.
3. The Band Had a Female Drummer
When Lee left Mötley Crüe in 1999 to launch a solo career, the band first hired drummer Randy Castillo to fill Lee’s sizable shoes. But in 2000, Castillo collapsed at Cedars Sinai Hospital from a duodenal ulcer and needed time to recuperate from emergency surgery. He was replaced with Samantha Maloney from Hole, who played with the band until Lee returned in 2004. She can be seen on the live concert video Mötley Crüe: Lewd Crüed & Tattooed. (Castillo unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2002.)
4. Lee Is All Over the Place Musically
With all the dirt to choose from—from The Dirt, to the stolen sex tape of him and ex-wife Pamela Anderson—there are things we know about, or have seen of the drummer that we wished we didn’t. But one thing that’s evident is how much the drummer loves music—all kinds of music. During the pandemic, he told The Big Issue that his 2020 solo album, Andro, would be “super eclectic,” explaining, “It could be a screamo metal track, then it’s a dance track, then it’s a ballad-y rock track or a Prince cover. I’m literally all over the place.”
[RELATED: 10 Infamous Moments from Mötley Crüe’s Career]
5. They Sold Their Entire Back Catalog
Like many legacy acts in recent years, Mötley Crüe has sold their back catalog of music. In 2021, BMG Rights Management cut the rights deal for an undisclosed sum for the band’s nine studio albums—from their 1981 debut, Too Fast for Love through Saints of Los Angeles from 2008—plus other releases, including live albums and hits compilations. The band released a statement about the sale, calling BMG “the perfect home to continue preserving and growing our musical legacy, ensuring we always stay at The Top.”
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
