Mötley Crüe is an American hard rock and glam band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 1981 by Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee. The band has sold over 50 million album copies worldwide.

Intro (Edit)

Mötley Crüe is an American hard rock and glam band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 1981 by Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee. The band has sold over 50 million album copies worldwide.

Mötley Crüe was formed on January 17, 1981. Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx were rehearsing with a guitarist named Greg Leon. The three piece practiced together and then Leon left. Lee and Sixx began looking for members to fill his place. Nikki and Tommy soon found a guitarist. His name was Bob Deal, also known as, Mick Mars. Mick auditioned and got the job.

When one of Micks former band mates saw the new band, they said that they all looked like “a motley looking crew.”

When Mick, Nikki, and Tommy were trying to decide on a name, Mick remember the name. He slightly modified the spelling and suggested it. Tommy and Nikki liked the idea. However, they added two sets of umlauts to the name. Supposedly the inspiration to the umlauts came from a German beer they were all drinking.

With the three piece needing a singer, they started the search. Tommy remembered a guy named Vince Neil from his high-school days. Vince and Lee met when they both toured the garage-band circuit.

When Tommy approaced Vince asking him to join the band, he refused. But when the members of Vince’s band, Rock Candy, became involved in outside projects, Vince started to look for something else as well. When the band heard he was looking, they asked him again, this time he said yes, and joined Mötley Crüe.

The band also needed a manager. The band found Allan Coffman. At the time he was the brother-in-law of Mick’s driver friend Stick.

In 1981, the band released their first single on their own record label, Leathür Records. Their first single was, Stick To Your Guns with Toast of the Town on the B-Side.

Then in November of 1981, the band released their debut album, Too Fast For Love. This was also released on Leathür Records. The album peaked out at 77 on the Billboard 200 chart. To this date, Too Fast For Love has been certified platinum.

Their manager’s assistant, Eric Greif, set-up a tour through Canada. They used the bands success on the Sunset Strip to negotiate with the different record labels. This lead to the band signing with Elektra Records in the late spring of 1982.

The band was pushed by Elektra to have their debut album re-mixed by producer Roy Thomas Baker. The album was re-released on August 20th, 1982. This also helped to promote the band’s upcoming tour in Canada.

In 1983, the band fired manager, Allan Coffman, and hired Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee.

After playing the 1983 US Festival, the band had found new success in the United States. With the help of MTV, the bands popularity level in the the United States sky-rocketed.

Shout At The Devil, was the bands second album. It was released in 1983. It contained the hits “Too Young To Fall In Love” and “Looks That Kill.” While those two songs were huge hits, the song “Shout At The Devil” became very popular too. The album was certified four-times Platinum.

In 1984, Vince Neil wrecked his car driving home, drunk, from a liquor store. He was in a head-on collision. His passenger, Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, was killed. Vince was charged with DUI and Vehicular Manslaugher. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but he only served 18.

In 1985, the band released Theatre of Pain. It peaked out at #6 on the US Charts. The album wasn’t as heavy as the first two albums. The album had more of a glam-metal influenced sound to it. The album contained two major hits. “Smokin’ In The Boy’s Room” and “Home Sweet Home.” The album was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 1995. The title of the album was dedicated to Razzle.

Girls, Girls, Girls followed Theatre of Pain. This album was more blues-rock influenced than any other Mötley Crüe album. The song contained hits such as “Wild Side” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.” The album peaked out at #2 on the Billboard 200. In 1995, the RIAA certified this album went four-times platinum.

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History (Edit)

On December 21, 1987, Nikki Sixx suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose. On the way to the hospital, he was declared legally dead. Two girls insisted that the medic continue to try to revive him. The medic gave Nikki two shots of adrenaline to the heart, which brought him back to life. He was dead for two minutes. Nikki’s two minutes of death inspired the song “Kickstart My Heart.”

The album Dr. Feelgood was released on September 1, 1989. During the recording of this album they had a quest for sobriety, which was started in 1989. This was also the first album they recorded where they all were totally sober. This is also the first Mötley Crüe album to top the Billboard 200 charts. It is stated by fans and critics that this is the bands strongest and best selling album to date. The album has sold over six million copies in the United States alone.

In 1989, Doc McGhee was fired from being manager. He had broke several promises about getting the band into the Moscow Music Peace Festival. He also gave his other band, Bon Jovi, an advantage in slot placement for the show. After this, Doug Thaler was the sole manager of the band.

In 1991, the band released, Decade of Decadence. This was the bands sixth album. It was a compilation of their greatest hits. The album featured remixes of two songs and one new song. It peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart. This release was just meant to keep the fans occupied until they worked on their upcoming album of all new material.

After Decade of Decadence was released in 1991, Vince Neil left the band in 1992. There is controversy to this day whether he left the band or was fired. Neil says he was fired, but Sixx claims that he quit. Vince was replaced by John Corabi.

During the 1990’s, the bands popularity significantly declined. This was due to the grunge movement and a not-so-stellar release in 1994.

In 1994, the band released their self-titled album, Mötley Crüe. It was released on March 15, 1994. This the first and only album with singer John Corabi. The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard Charts and was awarded, by the RIAA, a Gold status. Despite peaking at number seven and going Gold, the album didn’t do good. The three main reasons were that, Neil left, the band had a fall out with MTV, and that their labels weren’t supporting the band anymore. After this, the band did a mass firing.

In 1997, the band reunited to the original line-up. They released Generation Swine on June 24, 1997. This was the first album to feature the original line-up since Dr. Feelgood in 1989. This was also the last album to feature the original line-up until Saints of Los Angeles. Despite debuting at #4 on the Billboard charts and going Gold two months later, the album did not return the band to the popularity they had in the 1980’s. During an interview, Neil said that the album was “terrible” due to “too much experimenting.”

In 1999, Tommy Lee resigned from the band to pursue a solo career. This was because increasing tension between him and Vince. He was replaced by Randy Castillo, who had previously drummed on many Ozzy Osbourne albums.

In 1999, the band released Supersonic and Demonic Relics. This album was a compilation of unreleased tracks from 1991 to 1998. The album featured mostly rare songs.

In 2000, the band released New Tattoo. This album had more of the sleaze rock sound of their album from the 1980’s. It debuted at #41. The album has sold less than 200,000 copies.

In the following years, Sixx had played in the bands Brides of Destruction and 58. Tommy played in Methods of Mayhem and Neil continued as a solo artist, singing mostly Mötley Crüe songs. Mick Mars suffered from a rare disease, which is a form of arthritis. It is called ankylosing spondylitis. He went into seclusion in 2001.

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Update (Edit)

On June 24, 2008, the band released Saints of Los Angeles. It is the bands first studio album in eight years. It is also the first album to feature the bands original line-up since Generation Swine in 1997. The album debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts. It also sold over 99,000 copies during the first week of being released.

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