Despite over 100 million albums sold worldwide, Mötley Crüe has had its share of ups and downs. Taking the rock and roll lifestyle to the limit, the band has not been shy about its use of drugs and alcohol. With the help of MTV, the band’s second album, Shout at the Devil, was a breakthrough, and the success led to a rather predictable series of legal issues and addiction problems. Here are five of the wildest moments in the career of Mötley Crüe.
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5. Live Wire
In April 1981, the newly formed Mötley Crüe secured an opening slot for Y&T at the Starwood in Hollywood. Bassist Nikki Sixx worked at the venue and had convinced his boss to give them the two-set opening slot. The audience was less than receptive. When one of the audience members spat on lead singer Vince Neil’s leather pants, he jumped off the stage and started an all-out assault against the offender. Sixx joined in, slamming his bass guitar into the spitter’s shoulder blade. Before the fracas was even brought under full control, the band kept right on playing.
Vince Neil remembered in the Crüe autobiography The Dirt, “By the end of the second set that night, we had converted most of our enemies into fans. They told their friends, and even more people came to see us the next night. When Y&T came out for their second set on Saturday, half the room had emptied.”
4. Stick to Your Guns
Mötley Crüe has been involved in feuds with multiple bands. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich of Metallica have always been outspoken about their hatred of the Crüe and so-called “hair metal.” Godsmack felt they were treated less than fairly when they opened shows for the band in 2009. But the wildest clash came at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1989, when things came to a head between Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses.
It all started when Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin allegedly assaulted Neil’s wife at an L.A. club. Mötley Crüe was slated to present the award for Best Metal Video to GN’R. Only bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler ended up accepting the award, and later in the evening Neil threw a punch at Stradlin. Security separated them.
Guns singer Axl Rose later challenged Neil to a fight, saying in an interview with MTV’s Kurt Loder, “Anytime he wants it. Atlantic City, I don’t care. We’ll put money on it.”
Neil publicly accepted the challenge, but nothing ever came of it.
3. If I Die Tomorrow
Neil was making a liquor run in his sports car in late 1984. Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks’ drummer, Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, was in the passenger seat. Neil lost control of the vehicle and struck another car head-on. The two people in the other car suffered brain damage, and Dingley was killed instantly. The Mötley Crüe singer was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. His blood alcohol content was 0.17.
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Neil was ordered to pay $2.6 million and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. The short jail term was negotiated by his lawyers, enabling Neil to tour and pay the civil suit. Theatre of Pain, the band’s third studio album, was dedicated to “Razzle.”
2. Kickstart My Heart
Bassist Sixx overdosed on heroin and was declared clinically dead for two minutes in 1987. A paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. Steven Adler contests the story. The Guns N’ Roses drummer says he revived Sixx before the paramedics arrived. Sixx was interrogated by the police in the hospital. He was then released on his own recognizance.
By then, some media outlets had already reported the musician had died. As Sixx walked out of the hospital, two formerly mourning fans gave the bass player a ride home—upon which time Sixx promptly set himself up with another fix. After getting sober a couple years later, Sixx wrote the song “Kickstart My Heart” about the incident.
“Heroin nearly killed me. As a matter of fact, it did,” Sixx later wrote.
1. Bark at the Moon
In 1984, Ozzy Osbourne enlisted Mötley Crüe to open his Bark at the Moon Tour. Years later, in their autobiographical book, The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band, they recounted a particularly infamous offstage encounter with rock’s reigning “Prince of Darkness.”
They were hanging by the hotel pool as Osbourne walked up wearing a sundress. He then warned the band (perhaps facetiously) about the dangers of the rock and roll lifestyle. The rocker then took out a straw, knelt down, and snorted up a line of ants marching on the ground—a crazy exploit, even by Mötley Crüe standards. Ozzy then stood up, relieved himself, and lapped up his own urine. Not one to ignore a challenge, Nikki Sixx began to relieve himself as well, with the intention of repeating the Ozz’s act. But before he was done, Osbourne pushed him out of the way and consumed Sixx’s urine as well.
For the record, Osbourne says he doesn’t remember the incident. He also says he doesn’t remember a lot of things he’s done, so it could have happened.
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