He's a bassist, he's a songwriter, he's a producer, he's a radio broadcaster and he's one of the most colorful and scandalous bands of the 1980s - "Mötley Crüe". Come read some interesting and crazy facts about Nikki Sixx who's celebrating his birthday today:
(Photo: planetradio.co.uk)
1. He was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California, as Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.
2. Already at a very young age Feranna's parents were separated and it was his mother who raised him. At a later stage, she also abandoned him and he grew up with his grandparents.
3. These events greatly affected him. Feranna was a disturbed child, broke into neighbors' houses, stole from stores, and was expelled from school for selling drugs.
4. Eventually his grandparents who could not control him, sent him back to his mother, who was living at the time in Seattle, There he learned to play the bass guitar.
5. Feranna bought his first bass guitar with the money he got from a stolen guitar.
6. The musical influences on Feranna were of the rock genre. He was influenced by artists such as "Deep Purple", Harry Nilsson, "The Beatles", "The Rolling Stones", Elton John, "Queen", "Black Sabbath", "T-Rex", David Bowie, and "Slade".
7. At the age of 17, he moved to Los Angeles and worked casual jobs such as selling in a liquor store, selling vacuum cleaners over the phone, and more, while at the same time auditioning for different bands. Feranna eventually joined the band "Sister" led by Blackie Lawless. However, shortly after the first demo was recorded, Feranna was fired from the band.
(Photo: IMDB)
8. In 1978 Feranna founded "London". During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx.
9. After several band changes, "London" added former "Mott the Hoople" singer, Nigel Benjamin, to its ranks, recording a 16 tracks demo.
10. It is interesting to note that after Sixx's departure from "London" it was joined by Blackie Lawless (later from "W.A.S.P."), Izzy Stradlin (then from "Hollywood Rose", later from "Guns N 'Roses") and drummer Fred Coury (later "Cinderella").
11. In 1981, Sixx formed "Mötley Crüe" with drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars who responded to an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee attended high school.
12. The band recorded their self-funded debut album "Too Fast for Love". Already at this point, Sixx had established himself as the band's leader and lead writer. The album was released in November 1981 on the band's private label "Leathür Records".
13. The band began to gain momentum and build a fan base, when immediately after the release of the album they were signed by "Elektra Records" and released their second and excellent album "Shout at the Devil".
14. By 2008, Sixx had released nine albums with the band. All of them reached the top ten on the Billboard 200, with the 1989 album "Dr. Feelgood" being the only one to win first place.
15. "Mötley Crüe" has established itself as one of the most prominent bands in the glam metal genre, with insane performances that included the use of every possible pyrotechnic and special effects on and off stage.
16. During his membership in the band Sixx became addicted to heroin. He noted that alcohol, acid, and cocaine were just "affairs" and when he met "heroin" it was "true love". He estimates he took an overdose "about half a dozen times".
17. On December 23, 1987, Sixx took a heroin overdose and Was Declared Dead For 2 Minutes, before a paramedic revived him with two adrenaline-filled shots to the heart. The song "Kickstart My Heart" was written about this event.
(Photo: metalcastle.net)
18. In 1989, Sixx was a guest on Steve Jones', former "Sex Pistols" member, "Fire and Gasoline" album. Sixx co-wrote and performed the song "We're No Saints."
19. In 1990, Bruce Dickinson released his first solo album. He chose to call it "Tattooed Millionaire" when Sixx tells in his book "The Heroin Diaries" that the theme song was written about him after sleeping with Bruce Dickinson's wife.
20. In 1991, Sixx played bass in the song "Feed My Frankenstein", taken from Alice Cooper's "Hey Stoopid" album. Sixx co-wrote the song "Die For You," along with fellow "Mötley Crüe" guitarist Mick Mars.
21. On October 30, 1997, Sixx was the center of a controversial incident, during the performance of "Mötley Crüe" at the Colosseum in Gresboro. He used racial nicknames while encouraging the crowd to physically attack a dark-skinned security guard, who repeatedly pushed a fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, claiming he apologized to the victim of the incident.
22. In 2000, Sixx formed a side project called "58" with guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly "Black Label Society" and "Crowbar") and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single called "Piece of Candy" and their debut album, "Diet for a New America", in 2000.
23. In 2002, Sixx played in Butch Walkers' first solo album called "Left of Self-Centered".
24. In the same year, Sixx formed "Brides of Destruction", together with Tracii Guns, known among others from the band "L.A. Guns". They released their debut album "Here Come the Brides" in 2004.
25. After the release of the album, Sixx returned and reunited with "Mötley Crüe" but before that he co-wrote some of the songs for "Brides of Destruction" next album - "Runaway Brides", which was released in 2005.
26. In 2005 he collaborated with Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", from her debut album "Here I Am".
(Photo: rockcelebrities.net)
27. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for the long-awaited Meat Loaf album called "Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose".
28. In 2006, Sixx formed the band "Sixx: A.M" to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star". They recorded and released the soundtrack "The Heroin Diaries" in August 2007, including the successful single "Life Is Beautiful". Sixx will release four more albums with this band, the most recent of which, "Prayers for the Blessed, Vol. 2", was released in 2016. In addition, the band will release 2 more EPs.
29. In 2021, Sixx formed the supergroup "L.A. Rats" together with Rob Zombie, Tommy Clufetos, and John 5. They released the song "I've Been Everywhere" to the movie "The Ice Road" soundtrack, starring Liam Nissan.
30. As of 2010 he has a radio show called "Sixx Sense" that airs Fridays through Mondays.