NIKKI SIXX Explains Decision To Quit Twitter, Facebook

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx says that he deleted his Twitter and Facebook accounts because he wanted to "get back to what's real in [his] life."

Sixx announced his decision to quit his popular social media accounts on his 58th birthday, saying that he would focus on "writing music, lyrics, books [and] photography."

With nearly one and a half million Facebook followers and over 744,000 on Twitter, where he posted nearly 21,000 tweets, Sixx was among the most outspoken and accessible major artists on social media.

During the December 13 installment of his nationally syndicated "Sixx Sense" radio show, the current SIXX:A.M. bassist addressed his decision to leave Twitter and Facebook, saying (hear audio below): "First I deleted the app off my phone and then I went and deleted the accounts. And I did it on my birthday. It's, like, 'Happy birthday to me.'"

He continued: "The reason is I wanna get back to what's real in my life, like playing guitar more and focusing on photography. And I'm thinking about going through some of my work and maybe doing a couple of gallery showings next year. Focusing on lyrics and short stories and being a better father, hanging out with my dogs, my friends. And I just felt, personally, that I was spending too much time on my phone."

Sixx added: "In the morning, I would read Twitter and Facebook comments when I should be reading the news or maybe looking up something I wanna do for the day or taking a bass lesson online. That's like one my favorite things to do in the morning before life gets really busy is learn something and then apply it throughout the day. So if I learn a really interesting scale, and then a little later in the day, I pick up the bass and I do it, it might inspire a word, a lyric — it might inspire something that maybe a year from then ends up being a song. So that's why I did it."

Nikki went on to say that he wanted to spend more time in 2017 doing the things that make him happy and that inspire creativity.

"The end of this year is about me personally trying to figure out exactly how I want the next year to be," he explained.

"I started to have a lot of negative thoughts on the road. I'm in a lot of pain from my right shoulder, and I know I've gotta get surgery. And I just, 'Man, why not reset? Push the reset button.'"

According to Sixx, fans can still follow him on Instagram, "'cause I like to put pictures." His account, with the catchy handle nikkisixxpixx, features nearly 4,000 pictures demonstrating his photography skills.

"I'm only putting my serious photography there and not just kind of daily stuff, like we all have fun with Instagram," he said. "And that's been fun for me — to kind of start weeding through my stuff. So I'm enjoying it."

Nikki said that not everyone in his camp was happy with his decision to leave social media behind. "People in my office had a heart attack," he claimed. "They're, like, 'What are you gonna do?' And I go, 'Be happy?' And they're, like, 'I know. But there was 1.5 million people.' I go, 'They'll be fine.'"

MÖTLEY CRÜE ended its touring career a year ago with a New Year's Eve show in Los Angeles — a concert which is now available as the home video "The End". Since then, Sixx has kept busy with SIXX:A.M., which has toured extensively and released two companion albums, "Vol. 2, Prayers For The Blessed" and "Vol. 1, Prayers For The Damned".

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