ב- 17 לינואר 1981 הוקמה בלוס אנג'לס להקת Mötley Crüe.
(Photo: Neal Preston)
The band's foundation story begins on the day bassist Nikki Sixx left his band "London". His band had great potential, it included Slash and Izzy Stradlin, who would later form "Guns N' Roses" and Blackie Lawless would form "W.A.S.P.", but Sixx no longer wanted to be subject to the dictates of his bandmates and decided he wants to start his own band in which he would control all matters.
In fact, one of the "London" band members was the one who recommended Sixx to contact drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist Greg Leon, both from the band "Suite 19". But, Greg Leon did not last long leaving Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee to look for a new guitarist for their band. The two saw an ad in the newspaper that said: "Loud, rude, aggressive guitar player available". The person who posted the ad was guitarist Bob Deal, known by the stage name of Mick Mars. Mars came from the band "White Horse" and was immediately invited to audition by Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx, which of course he passed.
This was not the end, since any good band requires a charismatic frontman. After a short "affair" and one demo with singer O'Dean, the band recruited singer Vince Neil, whom Tommy Lee had known since high school. Vince was then with "Rock Candy" and after the three members saw him perform, they knew right away that he should be the one to lead them. Vince initially refused, but relented and joined "Mötley Crüe" on April 1, 1981, after his previous band began to crumble.
The band's name was given to it by guitarist Mick Mars, who recalled a sentence of one of the members of his previous band "White Horse", calling the band members "a motley-looking crew". Mars spelled the name as "Mottley Cru". The band members played with it, dropped the "T" and added "E" and the "Mötley Crüe" brand was born.
Over the next three decades, "Mötley Crüe" will become one of the greatest bands in the world, with sales of over 100 million copies, 10 top-ten albums on the Billboard charts, 7 of them platinum or multi-platinum albums.
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