Nikki Sixx thinks that Mötley Crüe crashed and burned when Vince Neil left the band after ‘Dr. Feelgood’


Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx was recently interviewed by RollingStone with the movie The Dirt about to be released via Netflix along with the upcoming album The Dirt Soundtrack on March 22, 2019.

Sixx was asked when he made a decision that crashed and burned, to which he replied: “When Vince [Neil] quit after Dr. Feelgood, I wish our managers and lawyers had the strength to say, “Guys, time out. You’re one of the biggest bands in the world. Nobody is fired and nobody is quitting.” Maybe we needed to make that record that we did without Vince but not call it Mötley Crüe and come back and do Mötley Crüe. We were burnt the fuck out. But we made a great record and we went out on that tour and there was fucking no one there, dude. Every band has hills and valleys.”

In terms of what he learned about putting out a Mötley Crüe album with a different singer, Sixx opined: “I learned that your fans fell in love with you for a reason. If I want to do something really too far away from who we are, it only confuses the fans. I did a band called Sixx:A.M. and people liked it because I wasn’t saying, “This is the new Mötley Crüe.””

Wikipedia states the following about that period for the band (with slight edits):

“After Decade of Decadence, Neil left in February 1992, at a time when other bands in the 1980s glam metal scene (Ratt, Stryper, White Lion, Winger, Europe, and Britny Fox) broke up amid the advent of grunge. Controversy persists over whether Neil was fired or quit. Sixx has long maintained that Neil quit. However, Neil insists that he was fired. “Any band has its little spats,” Neil observed in 2000, “and this one basically just stemmed from a bunch of ‘fuck you’s in a rehearsal studio. It went from ‘I quit’ to ‘You’re fired’ … It was handled idiotically. The management just let one of the biggest bands in the world break up.”

In the running for the vacant frontman position was Kik Tracee vocalist Stephen Shareaux. Ultimately, Neil was replaced by John Corabi (formerly of Angora and The Scream). Although Mötley‘s self-titled March 1994 release made the Billboard top ten (#7), the album was a commercial failure. It also prompted negative reactions from many fans due to Neil‘s absence and its sound. Corabi suggested the band work with Neil, believing the latter would always be seen as the voice of the band. This eventually resulted in his own firing in 1996.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Nikki Sixx at the RollingStone website.