After more than 30 years as rock music’s biggest bad boys, after selling more than 30 million albums, Motley Crue can see the finish line, bassist Nikki Sixx says.
“We believe that a band should bow out when they’re, hopefully, at their top and when they can leave an amazing legacy of music and history,” Sixx says in a call last week from Canada, where the band was two-thirds of the way through a tour.
“We don’t know when it’s going to be, (but) we want the last few years to be on top, and we want to go out gracefully and with a bang.”
Sixx’s point is that now is a good time to see Motley Crue.
“We are huge rock fans, and there are bands out there that we just are like, ‘Aww, dude, why didn’t you pack it in before it turned into that'” Sixx says. “And I know I’m not alone on this. A lot of my friends, we sit around and talk about this band and that band and what that album meant to us, and it always boils down to the last few years.”
Sixx says the band members, including singer Vince Neil, drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist Mick Mars, are all in their mid-50s to 62, and are all healthy.
Motley Crue certainly meets Sixx’s criteria for a band that’s still viable.
After a career that started with nine straight gold or platinum albums and produced rock hits Smokin’ in the Boys Room, Girls, Girls, Girls, Dr. Feelgood and Without You, the original lineup is still intact. Neil took a five-year break in the late 1990s, but he’s been back for more than 15 years.
The Crue’s last album, 2008’s Saints of Los Angeles, was its highest-charting in 20 years. It hit No. 4, and had a Top 5 Mainstream Rock hit with the title cut.
Sixx says the band is working on a new album, and released a single, Sex, in July. But he declines to put a date on the album’s release.
“We’re working on it,” he says. “It’s funny, you know, doing this for over 30 years, it’s always like, ‘When’s the album done’ And we’re like, ‘Well, no disrespect, but it’s done when it’s done.'” He says the band plans to “take most of the summer off for writing, being creative and just enjoying our lives.
“It’s hard when you tour to finish music, and so I think a big part of us being off the road is going to be the ability to, you know, be in one place and to be able to write and be able to put music together. We haven’t been home in the summer for years.
