TOMMY LEE Says MÖTLEY CRÜE Reunion Tour Is 'Really Rushed'

The four members of MÖTLEY CRÜE were recently interviewed by Metal Edge magazine for a cover story about their upcoming reunion tour. Several excerpts from drummer Tommy Lee's portion of the interview follow:

Metal Edge: Over the years, you were always the most vocal about not going back to MÖTLEY CRÜE. Why go back now?

Tommy Lee: "I'm here… You know, I played on a couple of tracks, and [our manager's] been talking about people wanting us to come out and do some shows. I was like, 'Well, I'm making another record right now, the timing for this is fucking terrible, there's so much shit going on, but maybe I can kick the thing off and get it started...' I'm not sure, there's a lot of open things here, so we'll see what happens. Fuck, we haven't even rehearsed! [Laughing] [note: the interview was conducted prior to the press conference on Dec. 6 announcing the reunion tour] Here we are making a video and recording songs. This is so fucking weird. [Laughing]"

Metal Edge: Have you guys even been in contact at all?

Tommy Lee: No! Me and Nikki [Sixx, bass] were in there to record… Yesterday was the first time the four of us were even in a room together!"

Metal Edge: Did that feel weird?

Tommy Lee: "Yeah, it was fuckin' strange! And seeing Mick [Mars, guitar] was really freakin' me out… Really freakin' me out. I was sitting there yesterday when he walked in, and I was like, 'Whoah!' It made me extremely sad — it's just fuckin' crazy! The doctors are saying he's going to be fine by February, but they must know something I don't know. We're all supporting him, and we're all being buds, but it looks painful. I don't know what to say. It's quite a shocker, actually."

Metal Edge: How did the new material come about?

Tommy Lee: "One of the songs is a cover [ROLLING STONES' 'Street Fighting Man'], which I didn't play on — I think Josh Freese [A PERFECT CIRCLE] did. I think 'If I Die Tomorrow' came from SIMPLE PLAN. I played on that one, and 'Liar' is another one I played on. Then there's 'Sick Love Song' — that's the one that I told everyone should be the first single, but nobody's listening to me around here! I guess I can't expect them to, when you just jump in and everybody's already got it figured out!"

Metal Edge: It doesn't sound like getting back together was very organic.

Tommy Lee: "I'm going to be really honest with you, I just think this is all really rushed. First of all, my heart wants Mick to get well, and then let's go fuckin' rip it, it'll be awesome for one last time. But he's not in good health right now, and a lot of this doesn't feel good to me. Everyone else is in a good headspace here, but if I were running the show, I'd wait 'till he was absolutely one hundred percent, then go fuckin' rip it. This is scarin' me, but the doctors are saying he's gonna be fine. Who do I listen to around here? Paul Stanley [KISS] just had a hip replacement [at the same time as Mick], and he's still walking with a fucking cane, and that dude goes to the gym every day, he's in shape! That was only two months ago, and we're already talking about doing shows here!"

Metal Edge: The tour's set to start in February. Do you know how long it's supposed to last?

Tommy Lee: "From what I know, it's something like 35 shows in America, then Europe, Japan, Australia… But this shit could only last a week, we don't know…"