MÖTLEY CRÜE's NIKKI SIXX On Retiring From Touring: 'It's Not About Money. It's About Credibility'

In a brand new interview with For Bass Players Only, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx was asked about the band's "The Final Tour", which kicked off last year and will end New Year's Eve at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after one more round of North American gigs.

"It started with the idea of pride and it started with the idea of us not wanting to be what we've seen before us, which is people kinda hobbling off into the sunset," he said. "We watch it in boxing, [and] I've seen some of my favorite football players who should've gone away a couple seasons before. It's human nature to want to keep going, but you have to fight against the 'I'm just gonna keep doing it' when you know the possibility of not looking great on the way out. It's better to pull it in a couple years too early, and that's really what we're doing."

He continued: "This tour's been phenomenal and the crowds have been amazing and the show's amazing. So I feel really proud and I talked to the guys in the band and they feel really proud."

Asked if there is any chance of a reconsideration, Sixx laughed and said: "For me, no, never. Every version of that question has been asked and there's all the trick questions: 'Would you do it for $100 million for five shows in Dubai?' Y'know, let's just get to the core of it: Do you want us to renege on our word? We don't want to. I don't need to name the bands that have. It's obvious. It's okay if they want to do that, and it's okay if their fans accept it. For us, we didn't want to do that. Plus, I have less years in front of me than I have behind me, and it's the same for all my band members. There's a track record of what we've done together, and I think we each individually want to go out and do some other stuff. If it was just about money, it would be different. But it's not about money. It's about credibility. And, you know, the next day after we take our final bow, I'm gonna look at my band members and say, 'Wow, dudes, everything we said the first day we got together, the very first band rehearsal, we did it.' And then I'm right back at it. I've got my fingers in many pies and I'm very excited about creating stuff and watching it blossom and bloom and harvest it and get on with the next thing. I think it's a very exciting thing to look forward to as well."

Sixx also confirmed that the door is not completely closed to the members of MÖTLEY CRÜE doing other things together in the future.

"We actually have a lot of great things we have in front of us, including our movie," he said. "And if something comes up and we want to write a song for something, that's an opportunity we can look at."

He continued: "We want to keep extending our brand into different places, into movies and soundtracks and our music will live on through licensing and our brand lives on through merchandise and new generations will get to wear our clothing and our T-shirts and stuff that's associated with us. And I think they'll be more proud about it as the years go one. They'll be, like, 'Man, remember when those guys said they were doing their final tour and they did it their way and I'm wearing their shirt. I dig their music and I went back to some of their albums I never heard before and I discovered their music and I heard it in a new movie…' That's so cool. And, besides, whatever we do as MÖTLEY CRÜE, what about what each guy's gonna do, individually? That's really exciting."