MÖTLEY CRÜE's NIKKI SIXX Celebrates 23 Years Of Sobriety

Nikki Sixx is celebrating the 23rd anniversary of his getting sober.

The 65-year-old MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist credited a treatment program with giving him the tools to help him live his life without drugs or alcohol.

Earlier today (Tuesday, July 2),he Instagrammed an image revealing he had been sober for 23 years, 276 months, 8,402 days or 201,623 hours.

He later shared a message in which he wrote: "23 years sober today. Had a few runs at it before but I wasn't ready to surrender completely to my addiction. Today I am the happiest I've been in my whole life.

"Thank you to those that shared their experience to help me understand the simple process of letting go. Nothing makes me happier than to see people who have lost hope to find themselves and change not only their life but their family's too.

"#SobrietyRocks".

When Nikki celebrated the 22nd anniversary of his getting sober a year ago, he wrote: "It has been one hell of beautiful and sometimes difficult journey. People always say 'GOOD FOR YOU' like some kinda pat on my head. I do understand what they are trying to say. Truth is-Nobody held my hand while I was kicking heroin, in fact nobody even called to even check on me. Nor did anybody hold by hair while I was vomiting blood. I had to make the decision alone to change my life but it wasn't until I finally found the program that my life truly changed and I learned the tools for a beautiful life even in the face of adversity. That's where I found people who understood my addiction. Obviously you have to want to do it for YOU but untangling the messy past takes more than willpower.

"People don't always understand addiction, they think we have some kinda moral affliction when the truth is we are simply allergic to drink and drugs. You are not alone. Seek others out with some sober time under their belt who will understand where you're at. Isn't that what we need, to be understood? Sure we can blame it in our family ( etc ).

"My mom and dad failed me and I carried that pain til I almost killed myself but I also couldn't see all the beauty around that I had growing up. My grandparents raised me and took care of me. I got to spend a lot of time in country. I'll forever be in debt to their unconditional love.

"When you are ready there will be a spiritual awakening waiting for you. Simply admit you are powerless over drugs and alcohol ( etc ). Otherwise your ego will kill YÖÜ. The beneficiaries are the people you love plus the never ending joy of feeling alive in this short life. Do it for you and pass it on to the people you love and those in need.

"Since I got sober I've had people try to stab me in the back, lie about me, steal from me and kick me in the nuts. Do you know how Ive been able to handle it? By STAYING sober. Sobriety gives you a chance to be strong yet also to do the next right thing.

"I don't want a pat on the head or a good job Nikki. I would love to just pass this BEAUTIFUL message on to those in NEED of a positive program ( AA) and the message of LOVE.

"For those still suffering there is hope. I am a work in progress. I still have work to do but I try to mitigate my life one day at a time.

"I love you. Love yourself back too. God bless."

Sixx struggled with substance abuse for years and was even supposedly declared clinically dead after a heroin overdose in 1987 made his heart stop for two minutes. He has since become actively involved in a recovery "program," which he credits for helping him transform his life and relationships.

"By letting go of self and ego, working a program that connects you to a higher power and giving back to those still struggling are just some of the important things you learn through sobriety," Sixx wrote when he celebrated nine years of sobriety in July 2013. "You get to repair the damage done from drink, drugs and horrific behaviors (that broke people's hearts who loved you."

The rocker, who detailed his near-fatal drug addiction in the best-selling book "The Heroin Diaries", added: "For me, taking away the substance just gave [me] an honest view of who I had become and then the healing started. I do believe without any program to help, many are just dry drunks and there is always a danger of them going out again. I've been there. It's not pretty. This is no joking matter to me, so I take it seriously."

Asked by The Guardian about a diary entry in "The Heroin Diaries" where he described himself as an "alcoholic heroin and coke addict getting into pills" and how he spent Christmas Day 1986 naked under the Christmas tree, clutching a shotgun, Nikki said: "Well, if you shoot enough cocaine, you go into a kind of psychosis, and I believed people were coming to get me. Scary place, let me tell you. It reads like some kind of a dark horror story or bedtime thriller. But in real life, the trauma that psychosis puts your body through is on a cellular level. You believe that you’re going to have an experience even though it's not really happening. I can remember those, because you come out of them, and it's scary. But you can only imagine what it would be like to be insane and not come out of it, or a version of that, like dementia."

Sixx is not the only member of MÖTLEY CRÜE who has battled alcohol addiction. Singer Vince Neil's 1984 drunk-driving accident killed HANOI ROCKS drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley and seriously injured two others. He spent 15 days in jail and received five years probation.

"It was rough for everybody after that accident," Neil told USA Today in 2020. "I tried to stay sober for a few years, but it's tough when there's no support system around you. They were still doing coke and drinking and carrying on, and I just couldn't be a part of it."