NIKKI SIXX: Why MÖTLEY CRÜE Decided To Blow Up 'Cessation Of Touring' Agreement

Nikki Sixx says that he and his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates "missed each other" in the four years since they played their last show.

CRÜE fans who shelled out for the band's 2014/2015 "farewell" tour were led to believe that the group would never return after playing its final concert on December 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band 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.

Speaking about the CRÜE's decision to reunite for next summer's stadium tour with DEF LEPPARD and POISON, Sixx said: "Honestly, I don't think any of us thought, when we were on 'The Final Tour', we would ever get back together. We weren't really getting along at that point. We had been together 35 years, and it had been a lot of years on the road. I don't think we took a lot of time for ourselves off; we were just constantly touring for all that time. And when it came to the end, we broke the band up and everybody went their own ways. I think we really needed that break, and it was during the making of 'The Dirt' movie, we started working on the script, started being on the set, we started hanging out again together. And I think we really started to realize — without even talking about the music — how much we missed each other. And then that got us to go in the recording studio, which is where the whole thing always starts for all of us. And we wrote a bunch of new music, and had a blast in the studio. And then the movie took off. And our fans were super stoked, but we also got a new generation of people. And that kind of started the conversation. But it really was from the heart. We missed each other, to be honest with you, and we missed being in a band together."

According to Sixx, the upcoming tek — a 22-stop run visiting the country's most iconic stadiums — will be the perfect opportunity for fans of 1980s hard rock to experience some of the era's biggest hits in a unique live setting.

"This tour, is, to me, the ultimate tour of next summer coming up," he said. "I think from Joan Jett starting, to POISON, MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD, every single song… Bret [Michaels, POISON frontman] was saying to me a while ago if he wasn't on the bill, he'd be going to the show. And I'm with you on that."

CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee said that production design started earlier this week.

"There's a lot of new technology right that we haven't gotten a chance to play with," Lee said.

"The Stadium Tour" kicks off July 7 at Miami, Florida's Hard Rock Stadium and wraps up September 5 at Los Angeles's SoFi Stadium. Tickets go on sale on December 13 at 10:00 a.m.

MÖTLEY CRÜE toured with POISON in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD toured with POISON in 2017. Next summer's trek will mark the first time the three hard rock groups have hit the road together.

"The Stadium Tour" was announced earlier today at a Hollywood event hosted on SiriusXM's Volume channel by Slim Jim Phantom of THE STRAY CATS.