NIKK SIXX
“Formats are going to change because this is what the people want. It’s not what the labels want.”
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx (born December 11, 1958) is an American bassist, author, photographer, and the main songwriter for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He has also played bass for glam metal band London, the experimental band 58, the hard rock band Brides of Destruction and more recently, Sixx:A.M.
Sixx was born on December 11, 1958 in San Jose, California.He was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. He moved in with his grandparents, while his mother toured with bands as a back-up singer. Sixx relocated several times while living with his grandparents.
While living in Jerome, Idaho, Sixx became a teenage vandal, breaking into neighbors’ homes, shoplifting, and being expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. He lived there for a short time, and learned how to play the bass guitar having bought his first instrument with money earned from selling a prior guitar he had stolen.
At the age of 17, he struck out on his own, moving to Los Angeles and working jobs at a liquor store and selling vacuums over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He unsuccessfully auditioned for the Randy Rhoads version of Quiet Riot, as well as the band Sister, with Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. before joining London, a local glam outfit whose lineup saw numerous changes and whose major claim to fame was that its singer, Nigel Benjamin, had sung with a late version of Mott the Hoople. Sixx soon left the band.
In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe with drummer Tommy Lee, later being joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper he was reading, then by singer Vince Neil with whom Tommy had attended high school. The band decided to self-record their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band’s own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records they re-released the album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame.
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, “We’re No Saints”.
In 1991, Sixx played bass on “Feed My Frankenstein” on Alice Cooper‘s Hey Stoopid album. Sixx also co-wrote the track “Die For You”, along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars (who plays guitar on the song).
In 2006 Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour featuring all four original members and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called “The Route of All Evil”. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks.
LIVING AND LEARNING
“I forgive my mom for being a psycho and my dad for being a loser. ”
Nikki Sixx
“I harbored a lot of resentment as a teenager and as a young adult. I still have a problem with authority, I’m trying to listen!”
Nikki Sixx
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night . In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx’s division also provides a creative arts and music program, allowing the beneficiaries of this program to discover an answer to their problems that is better than drugs. Because Sixx has been dealt an upper hand along with his success, he has been able to negotiate with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software . Sixx has arguably prevented thousands of potential drug users and rehabilitated teenage addicts from continuing to dabble in the world of drugs, as the Covenant House helped almost 78,000 youth at risk last year.
Sixx didn’t just establish the program. A portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.’s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack is donated to help the Covenant House. Sixx also continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000. In addition to monetary contributions, Sixx has made personal and emotional ones. George Lozano, the director of Covenant House California, said that Sixx is “passionate about the cause; he can relate to the youth in our program and they can relate to him. He’s a great role model for these kids.”
Nikki Sixx has conquered the rock world and now the literary world. Sure, it’s just a diary, but the honesty displayed is unmatched by anyone. Real life has never been captured so well as in Heroin Diaries and even those not familiar with Sixx’s musical record will be entranced with his tales of debauchery and hopes for redemption. Heroin Diaries is not recommended book, but a must read for any and all music fans. This book takes biographies to a new plateau and sets a standard I think few will be able to match.
*Life is Beautiful Nikk.
” Live your Life , Love your Life………Carpe Diem…….” Adriana Sassoon
ADRIANA SASSOON 