Nikki Sixx Had to Convince Tommy Lee to do Another Motley Crue Tour

Motley Crue rocked crowds night after night on the Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. However, their involvement wasn't always a done deal.

Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee took part in a new interview with ET where Sixx said he had to convince Lee to do the tour. A large part of Lee's apprehension stemmed from the Crue's "Cessation of Touring" agreement they signed before their "Final Tour" in 2014-15. (The band would go on to literally blow up the agreement in November 2019.)

"Tommy does other stuff, and I do other stuff, and I remember getting the phone call from management, and I was like. 'No,'" Sixx said. "And they go, 'You haven’t even heard what I have to say.'"

When they were told the proposed tour would be in stadiums, not arenas, minds quickly changed. Sixx then told management he'd call Lee and have a chat.

"How can you say no to stadiums?" Lee said. He added, "Every night is bananas."

The tour took longer than expected to happen thanks to the pandemic, but it seems to be well worth the wait. Early reports in August from Pollstar showed each night of the Stadium Tour was making an average of just under $5 million. At the time, the only tours out-performing the Stadium Tour were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran.

The Stadium Tour wrapped on September 9 in Las Vegas. Complete gross totals haven't been revealed yet, but don't be surprised when the Stadium Tour ranks as one of the biggest tours of 2022.

Motley Crue, through all of the obstacles (and there have been plenty), has managed to survive for four decades. It's an overwhelming thought when you think about it.

Just reading or watching The Dirt gave fans an idea of the absolutely insane things the band has gone through. From drugs to horrific tragedies and everywhere in between, The Crue has seemingly seen or done it all.

The latest chapter in the band involves the exit of Mick Mars. The guitarist retiring from touring with Mötley Crüe in October 2022 seemed to come out of nowhere. Apparently, the band thought the same.

Nikki Sixx told Guitar World, "We never saw it coming that Mick wasn’t going to be able to tour and was going to have to quit the band."

At the time, Mötley Crüe was about to hit the road again with Def Leppard following the success of The Stadium Tour. Sixx expressed that after Mars' retirement, the band didn't want to let fans, Def Leppard or tour promoter Live Nation down. This then led them to bring in guitarist John 5 to fill in for Mars. Sixx referred to the substitution as "a no-brainer in a horrible situation -- something we did not ask for or want.

Of course, a lot has played out in the press in the aftermath of Mars' retirement. To begin with, Mars filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe alleging his percentage of band profits was cut from 25 percent to 5 percent.

He claimed in his lawsuit the band held a meeting to "unilaterally" remove him from Mötley Crüe. He was also allegedly removed from many of the band's various corporations and LLCs. Additionally, Mars claims bassist Nikki Sixx repeatedly "gaslighted" the guitarist. Sixx told Mars he consistently forgot chords and fans were complaining about his playing. (Mars claimed in the lawsuit Sixx "did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour" and accused him of using backing tracks and pantomiming.)

While this issue is still ongoing, let us not forget they've provided rock fans with quite the catalog of songs, with a number of those tunes now considered rock/metal classics.

From the classics to the deeper cuts, here are the 40 best songs of Motley Crue, ranked.