NIKKI SIXX Wants MÖTLEY CRÜE To Keep Going Until At Least 2031: 'This Isn't A Final Tour'

In an interview with Brazil's A Rádio Rock conducted this past December but only now uploaded to YouTube, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx was asked about the possibility of him and his bandmates writing and releasing new music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We just did those four songs for 'The Dirt' soundtrack. We're pretty much locked down right now. We're having conversations beyond [2023]. So what's '24 look like for us in a touring capacity? As far as new music — I think new music always comes when the band is getting along. We get along so great right now. We've been having the best time. We spend time together. We go out to dinner.

"Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer] just had his 60th-birthday party [last October] down in Mexico, and he invited a small group of his very good friends. And I was there, and a bunch of cool Tommy's friends. All of our wives were there. John 5 came in. And it was just cool to be able to not talk business, be in rehearsal, get on the phone, talk about the photo shoot or the video. It was just hanging out, walking on the beach. And we had some sweet conversations. Me and Tommy and Vince [Neil, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer] had this conversation. I said, I go,' What are you guys doing for the next eight years?' And everybody's laughing: 'I don't know.' I said, 'Why don't we just keep going? Let's just take it to 50 [years since the band's inception, which will be in 2031].'

"So this isn't a final tour," Sixx clarified. "What does that look like? I have no idea. I'm just telling you, you have the band saying, 'We're having a blast. Why stop?'"

After selling more than 1.3 million tickets on their 2022 North American stadium tour, MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD are going global in 2023 with "The World Tour", along with special guest Alice Cooper.

Produced by Live Nation, the U.S. leg of the world tour kicks off on August 5 in Syracuse, New York.

Last month, MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD played two shows at the 7,000-capacity Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Atlantic City gigs marked MÖTLEY CRÜE's first U.S. live appearances since the announcement that founding guitarist Mick Mars would no longer tour with the legendary rock act. He is being replaced on the road by former ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5.

The 71-year-old Mars — whose real name is Robert Alan Deal — served as MÖTLEY CRÜE's lead guitarist since the band's inception in 1981.

In his statement, Mick said that he had decided to step back from live shows due to his "ongoing painful struggle" with ankylosing spondylitis and while he will continue to be a member of the band, he cannot "handle the rigors" of touring life.

Last year, Sixx told Entertainment Tonight that he was initially opposed to the idea of touring again with MÖTLEY CRÜE, especially since CRÜE fans who shelled out for the group's 2014/2015 "farewell" tour were led to believe that the band would never return after playing its final show on December 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The group touted the signing of a pre-tour "cessation of touring" agreement as cementing the fact it truly was the end of CRÜE's life on the road.

In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Sixx said "the most important thing about a farewell tour is that the band doesn't lie to the fans, and the band doesn't tour and then come back years later. That's what's important for us, planning what's the right time to go out."

Four years ago, Sixx said that "The Dirt" movie, about MÖTLEY CRÜE's formative years, sparked a renewed interest from younger fans who wanted to see them live, contributing to the band's decision to renege on its infamous "cessation of touring" contract.