MÖTLEY CRÜE's NIKKI SIXX: 'This Is Not A Fucking Farewell Tour'

The four members of MÖTLEY CRÜE recently spoke to Sylvie Simmons of the U.K.'s Guardian about their current "Red White and Crüe" world tour. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

On their well-publicized drug problems:

Nikki Sixx: "We lost perspective. We almost didn't survive. But isn't that what's exciting about us? That we almost didn't survive?

"People came to the car race hoping they would see a car accident, but it doesn't mean that the race itself — meaning our music — wasn't exciting. But this is us. It's our dirt — our dirty laundry. But what's really taken us by surprise is you can hardly read a review of the band now that isn't just amazing. There are a few digs but it's mostly, 'This is just what we need.' We're really doing the same thing we were doing in the beginning, and back then it was, 'Oh my God.' It's gone from that to, 'Thank God.'"

On why they are being so well-received on the road:

Vince Neil: "I think music right now is very dull and too formulated. It's all boy bands and girl bands, there's really no rock bands. And there's no showmanship. It's not really entertainment. I think that's why they're into us."

On having his new wife, Lia Gerardini, out on the road with him:

Vince Neil: "Nikki has had his wife and kids come out, too, and Tommy's had his kids. All having our own buses, it makes it easy. I had a bar built in mine. Me and Tommy both love wine and we share a couple of glasses before and after the shows."

On the Blender magazine interview in which Neil was quoted as saying: "I don't like Tommy and Tommy doesn't like me ... You still do your job, huh? The secret is to think of THE EAGLES. They toured forever and they fucking hated each other."

Vince Neil: "I don't remember doing that interview. You know, we hadn't gotten along in a long time, but we get along great now, better than ever. Me and Tommy, we've been friends for 30 years. That's a long time — and in 30 years, you're going to have fights, but it's just like brothers, you know? Brothers fight and then you make up."

On whether guitarist Mick Mars considered a makeover:

Vince Neil: "No. Mick's like the old trusty car that will always keep running. It might be a little rusty on the outside but the engine still works good. Anyway, he just had an extreme makeover. He had his hip replaced. He's doing pretty good."

On pre-tour rumors that Dave Navarro, sometime guitar-player with the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and JANE'S ADDICTION, was waiting in the wings to step in if Mick Mars couldn't cut the tour:

Mick Mars: "There's no way if this is, like, a reunion tour you can have someone else on guitar. I don't know who started that rumour. It didn't hurt me, it just pisses me off. I mean, I have this shit to deal with — I call myself Quasimodo, I make light of it — but I don't know where it's going to take me."

On Mick's tour bus, there is an adjustable, electric hospital bed and an assistant "to watch that nothing too bad happens. Because I could break very easily. But I wouldn't turn to alcohol or opiates or anything again. It's not worth it. Those stupid little tabs — I had to use them, that's the only way to treat this, and it turned into an addiction — they wrecked my life for three or four years."

On whether there was any trepidation about committing himself to a two-year world tour when the stress, or the issues between Neil and Lee, might drive him back to drugs:

Mick Mars: "I never thought about it that way when they asked me. At the time, I was pretty fucked up on opiates and hip replacements and all that kind of crap to think about anything else. Of course Tommy and Vince had issues, but I think it was all aired out and taken care of, just talking among ourselves, talking with managers. And people wanted to see us back together, so it was time to do it."

On being single on tour:

Tommy Lee: "[I'm] super single. I'm the only single guy on tour — well, Mick is, but you know, with his health — so I get to play with all of the girls. I keep calling my friends. I'm like, guys, you've got to come out here and help me, there's way too much fun going on out here, I can't do it all by myself."

On whether his solo career is an insurance policy against the inevitable MÖTLEY implosion:

Tommy Lee: "The only thing people ask us about is if we're getting along. Of course we get along. Time heals — it's been six years. People change, grow up. I think we all have the attitude now that if we could just fucking get along instead of fucking with each other, we could continue to do this for as long as anybody wants to. It's all about communication. I learned that [in therapy when] going to jail for spousal abuse. I wish that had never happened to me, but I learned something, so it turned out to be OK. And right now this is where I want to be, and I'm having a fucking blast."

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