Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Nikki Sixx

Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr. December 11, 1958 in San Jose, California) is an American bassist, author, photographer, and the main songwriter for the rock 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 SixxA.M.

Sixx was born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna on December 11, 1958 in San Jose, California.[1] He was raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and her abusive boyfriend, after his father and namesake, Frank Ferrana abandoned the family. When he was six, he and his mother moved to New Mexico for a short time, after which they moved to Jerome, Idaho, with his grandparents. The family moved several more times, to El Paso, Texas, then to Anthony, New Mexico, back to El Paso, and then returned to Jerome.

While living in Idaho, Sixx became a teenage vandal, breaking into neighbors' homes, shoplifting, a drug addict and being expelled from school for selling drugs.[2] 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 after buying his first instrument with money made from selling a guitar he stole from a guitar shop that he stopped by while waiting for a bus.

At the age of 17, he struck out on his own, moving to Los Angeles and working at jobs at a liquor store and selling vacuums over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He auditioned for 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. Nikki soon left the band, convinced that his ideas for world domination would never come to fruition with Dane Rage and Lizzie Grey as his partners in crime.


Mick Mars

Mick Mars (born Robert Alan Deal,[1] May 4, 1951,[2] in Terre Haute, Indiana[1]) is the lead guitarist for heavy metal/glam metal band Mötley Crüe.

After his family relocated from Indiana to California, Deal dropped out of high school and began playing guitar in a series of unsuccessful blues based rock bands throughout the seventies, taking on menial day jobs to make ends meet. After nearly a decade of frustration with the California music scene, the 30 year-old Deal reinvented himself, changing his stage name to Mick Mars and dying his hair jet black, hoping for a fresh start. In April of 1981 he put in a want-ad in the Los Angeles "Recycler" newspaper describing himself as a "Loud, rude, and aggressive guitar player". Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee contacted him and the three decided to form a band together. Upon Mick's prodding, they persuaded local Rock Candy singer/frontman Vince Neil to hop on board. It was Mars' suggestion that the band be called Mötley Crüe, a name that had stuck in Mars' head from his days as a member of a band called White Horse, who had once considered the name for their own use.

Unlike many of the hard rock/heavy metal guitarists of his era, Mars' guitar style is steeped in the blues tradition. He employs frequent use of a metal slide in his soloing and takes on both the rhythm and lead guitar duties of the band. In the studio and live, Mars frequently tunes his guitar down to D (rather than the standard E) to get a stronger and crunchier rhythm sound. The altered tuning also increases string slack to enable his characteristic hammer-on trills, pitch bending, and pinch harmonics during soloing. Mars has introduced the pedal steel guitar to many of Mötley Crüe's later recordings and live sets.

For the sum of his career with Mötley Crüe, Mars has created the aura of being a somewhat mysterious figure, letting the other members of the band speak for him in public and in print, despite being the eldest and most articulate member of the band. In what public interviews he has conducted, Mars often comes off as a very reserved and somewhat quiet individual, though not shy by any means. A home video made in 1984 and posted on the web by one of his former White Horse bandmates reveals Mars to be a rather jovial, wisecracking, down-to-Earth person-- one who obviously saw his fair share of adversity during his long rise to the top.

Tommy Lee

Tommy Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician. He is known as the drummer for heavy metal band Mötley Crüe and ex husband of actress Pamela Anderson.

Lee was born in Athens, Greece. His mother, Vassiliki "Voula" Papadimitriou, was Miss Greece in 1957, and his father, David Lee Thomas Bass, was a US Army serviceman of Welsh descent.[1] He has one younger sister, Athena Kottak (b. 1964), who is currently the drummer of Kottak. His family moved to California a year after his birth. Lee received his first drum when he was four. However he received his first real drum kit when he was a teenager. At that time, he was listening to Kiss, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest. After transferring from South Hills High School; he joined the marching band at Royal Oak High School in Covina, California, but dropped out of school in his senior year to focus on his musical career. His first successful band Suite 19 played the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles during the late 70s. At this time he met future bandmate, Nikki Sixx. Casually, Sixx was forming a theatrical band that would specialize in anthemic heavy metal, and was impressed by Lee's drumming. Sixx, Lee and Leon started jamming together, but Leon decided not to continue. At this time, he changed his name to Tommy Lee and earned the nickname "T-bone" from Sixx. He got this nickname due to his tall 6ft 2 ½ inch (189cm) skinny physique. Shortly afterwards, guitarist Mick Mars joined the band. Mars recommended a singer Tommy had met while in high school, Vince Neil, who soon joined the group, and the famous Mötley Crüe was formed.

Mötley Crüe quickly built a strong fan base and they released their debut album, Too Fast for Love in 1981, on their own independent label (Leathür Records). Elektra Records decided to sign the band shortly thereafter, reissuing their debut in 1982. The band then began a string of hit releases throughout the decade -- 1983's Shout at the Devil, 1985's Theatre of Pain, 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls, and 1989's Dr. Feelgood -- establishing the quartet as one of the biggest hard rock/metal bands of the '80s. During this time, Lee used several memorable gimmicks during his drum solo at concerts, such as having his entire kit revolving and spinning, or having the entire kit float above the crowd while he continued to play. He also was legendary for mooning the crowd at nearly every show. The band was known for their decadent behavior both on and off the stage, often dabbling in excessive amounts of hard drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and pills and drinking in excess. In 2004, Lee reunited with the original Mötley Crüe line-up to release the double-disc album of hits entitled Red, White & Crüe launched a monumental reunion tour to support it, The Red, White & Crüe Tour 2005 Better Live Than Dead, the band's first in six years. They also finished the year number 8 on the top concert money earners list. They played 81 shows and grossed $33 million US (Billboard Boxscore). This figure did not include a tour of Australia in December 2005. In 2005, Lee appeared in the claymation film Disaster!

Tommy Lee decided to leave Mötley Crüe during his stay in jail in 1998, and stuck to his promise after the completion of the Crüe's Greatest Hits tour in 1999. With the popularity of rap metal, Lee formed a band called Methods of Mayhem. The band released a self-titled album the same year and toured in support of it. Although Lee distanced himself from Mötley Crüe after splitting, he agreed to take part in their 2001 autobiography, The Dirt. In addition to Mötley Crüe and Methods of Mayhem, Lee has made guest appearances on albums by other artists, such as Stuart Hamm, Nine Inch Nails and Rob Zombie. He also contributed a song, "Planet Boom" (originally on Mötley Crüe's Quaternary EP) to the soundtrack of then-wife Pamela Anderson's 1996 movie, Barb Wire, and produced an album for the pre-Goldfinger project from John Feldmann and Simon Williams, the Electric Love Hogs. Lee parted ways with Methods of Mayhem partner Tilo and began recording with members of Incubus. He then released his first solo album. The album, 2002's Never a Dull Moment, has tones of rap metal and electronica. The song "Blue" features guest vocalist Rodleen Getsic (the credits read "Rolleen"). In August of 2002, Tommy Lee and his solo band joined Ozzfest, mainstage. He formed a new band called Rock Star Supernova with Jason Newsted (Voivod, ex-Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses). The 2006 season of Rock Star selected Lukas Rossi as the lead singer

for Supernova. Dilana, the runner-up, accepted an offer to go on tour with Supernova along with assistance in producing an album of her own. Rock Star Supernova released their debut album on November 21st, 2006.

Vince Neil

Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is the lead singer for American glam metal band Mötley Crüe.

Neil was born in Hollywood, California to Odie and Shirley Wharton. During the 1960s, his family moved around Southern California from Inglewood to Watts, before finally settling in Compton. Growing up in Compton was sometimes tough; Neil once had his face slashed by a gang member. Neil eventually got in trouble at school for fighting and drug use, and he was subsequently expelled. As well as having an interest in music while a teenager, Neil was also interested in surfing, baseball, football, wrestling, tennis, cricket, and golf.

Neil was discovered while performing with his band, Rockandi (pronounced Rock-Candy) in 1980, and joined Mötley Crüe in 1981. Mötley Crüe released its first album, Too Fast for Love the same year. In 1983, Mötley Crüe released Shout at the Devil, a blockbuster success that established the band as one of the biggest acts of the 1980s.

In 1985, Neil regrouped with Mötley Crüe to record Theatre of Pain. The band subsequently recorded the hugely successful Girls, Girls, Girls (1987). The band then released their highest-selling album, Dr. Feelgood, in 1989 after going through drug rehabilitation. The band's stint in rehab was due to bassist Nikki Sixx's overdose on heroin in December 1987. Sixx was revived by two adrenaline shots to the heart, but the band's management nevertheless cancelled an upcoming European tour and insisted that all members of the group go to drug rehabilitation with the admonition "If you guys go to Europe, at least one of you will be coming back in a bodybag."