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4/1/08
Vince Neil performs a selection of Mötley Crüe hits at Tony La Russa's
Animal Rescue Foundation's (ARF) ARF Rocks! fundraiser at the Dean Lesher
Regional Center in Walnut Creek, California. Vince fronts the ARF all-star
band that features Mike Vanderhule and John Nymann from Y&T, Eric Martin
from Mr. Big, Myron Dove, Ken Harrill and Tony Lindsay. Funds raised
from the event are used by ARF to save the lives of loving dogs and
cats who have run out of time at public shelters.
Former Mötley singer John Corabi says
he'll begin recording his long-promised solo album in a week's time
in Nashville, adding, "I guess I have a tendency to over-think myself
to death. I'll break myself of that habit. But there will be some new
music coming soon."
10/1/08
As the video for Sixx: A.M.'s Accidents Can Happen premieres on Fuse,
Nikki Sixx wishes fans a Happy New Year and says he has quit smoking,
having had his last cigarette thirteen days ago.
14/1/08
Gerald Schneeman of Rockford, Illinois files a lawsuit against Live
Nation, the promoter of the recent Mötley Crüe and Aerosmith concert
tour. The lawsuit states Schneeman was standing in front of the Ford
Amphitheater stage on 22 November 2006, when an unnamed member of
Mötley Crüe
jumped from the stage and knocked him to the ground, striking him in
the head with a guitar. Security then came over and assaulted him before
dragging him from the venue. According to the suit, he suffered bodily
injury, scarring and disfigurement. Fans report that Vince jumped
into the crowd after Schneeman spat on him.
18/1/08
Nikki takes part in several signing
sessions at this year's winter NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants)
show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim. He spends
time talking to fans and signing merchandise at the booths of Ovation
Guitars, Basson Sound, and Dean Markley Strings. Mick Mars also spends
time at NAMM to sign autographs and chat with fans.
19/1/08
Vince plays a free evening street
concert outside 219 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach, Florida to celebrate
the public grand opening of his much-anticipated Dr. Feelgood's Rock Bar and
Grill. The VIP opening held four days ago was attended
by the likes of Vanilla Ice, Dennis Rodman, and former Miami Dolphin
Jay Fiedler. Mayor Lois Frankel evens hops on stage with Vince and
plays some air guitar. Vince is also reportedly looking for a space in downtown
West Palm Beach to setup another branch of his tattoo business Vince
Neil Ink.
21/1/08
Nikki's ex-wife Donna D'Errico is reportedly shopping for a publisher
for a proposed book titled Letters from Rehab, which consists of letters
that Donna received from Nikki during his rehab stint in 2001 and her
thoughts on their content. D'Errico is also looking to publish her memoir
titled Both Eyes Forward with a firm focus on her marriage and divorce
from Nikki.
24/1/08
Vince Neil's Motley Cruise 2008 departs
from Miami on the newly-renovated Carnival Imagination ship for a four-day
rock 'n' roll vacation filled with music, fun and sun. The event features
a concert by Vince and his band, in addition to live performances by Ratt (featuring John Corabi), Skid Row, Slaughter, and Lynam, as the
ship sails for the Mayan Riviera,
stopping by Key West, before making its way to Calica, Mexico. Other
on-board activities include meet
and greets with the artists, wet and wild shore excursions in Key West
and Cozumel, and a no-limit Texas Hold'Em charity poker tournament and
live auction.
29/1/08
Tommy has narrated the upcoming documentary Dear Jack due later this
year, which focuses on Jack's Mannequin founder Andrew McMahon's battle
with leukaemia. The feature film also chronicles the beginnings of the
band, Andrew's relationship with his now-wife Kelly and the immense
impact both had on his fight with cancer. Tommy forged a strong friendship
with McMahon and played drums on Jack Mannequin's debut, while Andrew
contributed lead vocals to Tommyland: The Ride.
30/1/08
Nikki tells fans that ten songs have now been completed for the new
Crüe album, saying, "I'm very proud of the songs. I think we're onto
some of the better songs we've had in years - time will tell, of course.
A couple of song titles are called A Scar on Hollywood Blvd. and Saints
of Los Angeles. As it's been leaked out before, this is no surprise,
but the album is called The Dirt and it lyrically follows the story
of the Mötley Crüe best-seller The Dirt. It's challenging and exciting
to have to write the songs into time capsules spreading over years.
I've written a lot of songs with Mick Mars of course, along with James
Michael, Marti Frederickson and DJ Ashba. The chemistry in the studio
as we're writing is unbelievable. I look forward to leaking some to
you all in the next few months."
Nikki also says his Miami Ink and LA Ink television personality friend
Kat Von D will probably ink him this weekend. "I haven't got anything
tattooed in years except Tag Here on my toe. I think it's time to step
it up; I'm feeling the itch. I've been wanting to get Los Angeles tattooed
on me for ages and then the other day I noticed Kat has it on her left
shoulder. We both have had so much happen in our lives in this city,
why not make it permanent? The band started it here, I've died here,
had kids, married and divorced here. My life is in Los Angeles."
3/2/08
Vince performs at the first annual
Game Day at the Playboy Mansion on Superbowl Sunday, hosted by the professional
networking company Financially Hung, founded by former Playmate of the
Year Brande Roderick and her husband, two-time Superbowl Champion Glenn
Cadrez. Over seven hundred guests, celebrities and professional athletes
dance and mingle with Playboy Playmates and Bunnies all day and into
the night while enjoying a lavish spread of Game Day style food, an
open bar, and hand-rolled Cuban cigars. Mick also attends the event,
which raises $50,000 for the California Police Youth Charities.
10/2/08
In a weekend session at his personal studio, Mick collaborates with
Machina, the band featuring former Evanescence members John LeCompt
and Rocky Gray, on a new song titled Save You. The track features guitar
work by Mick and LeCompt, vocals by Phil Taylor, drums by Rocky Gray
and bass by Thad Ables. The song is still in pre-production phase, and
it has not yet been determined how or where it will be used.
11/2/08
Robin Leach reports on his blog, "Mötley Crüe rocker Vince Neil had
110-million reasons to smile for his birthday blowout weekend here —
just two days earlier Vince, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars signed
a $100-million+ mega deal to produce three albums and perform three
world tours for the giant LiveNation entertainment conglomerate. "We’ll
actually have been together for 37 years by the time it comes to an
end," laughed Vince." Leach also says, "Vince, who will go off next
month on a solo tour of Canada, told me that the first of the three
long world tours starts this July. The new contract runs for the next
10 years and includes 169 concert dates on the first global journey!"
In response, Nikki says, "Mötley Crüe
has not signed any deals. Any information reported to the contrary is
false and misleading."
12/2/08
Sixx: A.M. is preparing to hit the road for a select number of U.S.
dates but due to the band-members' limited availabilities, they give fans the power to decide which markets they will play
by voting online. The winning cities
and Sixx: A.M. tour routing will be announced in one week's time.
19/2/08
Tommy DJs at the after-party for
the gala opening of Mario Barth's Starlight Tattoo at the House of Blues
in Las Vegas.
21/2/08
The Pulse of Radio reports that
Mötley Crüe
has set a July 8 release date for its ninth studio album, titled The
Dirt. A yet-to-be-named single will arrive at radio stations on May
7 with the band expected to start a new world tour in June or July.
Although it was reported last year that Tommy had again quit
the Crüe
over legal issues, he and the group
have apparently reconciled.
Nikki is the featured artist for the
premiere episode of Live Through This
on Fuse TV.
25/2/08
In an online post on his website as response to his status in Mötley
Crüe, Tommy writes, "Nope! I never quit! Silly rumours! We're all together!
We're goin' on a world tour starting July 4th!"
28/2/08
Sixx: A.M. releases a statement advising
they will postpone their spring tour "due to unforeseen circumstances
and will most likely hit the road in the summer of 2008."
5/3/08
Bob Timmons, the addiction specialist credited with salvaging the lives
of Mötley Crüe members and other celebrity drug users by steering them
onto the path of sobriety and helping them stay there, dies of respiratory
failure at his home in Marina del Rey. He was 61. Nikki says of his passing,
“Lost a dear friend and saw how many people’s lives he has touched.
His time here was done and I feel good in knowing that’s the destiny
for us all. He taught me a lot about recovery and I hope to pass that
on, it’s the least we can do. Lead by sober example to those who still
struggle.”
7/3/08
Nikki and Kat Von D go public with their relationship via MySpace. On
his profile, Nikki captions a photo of them taken at a tattoo competition
in Santa Barbara with "My other half, I love this woman." Kat captions
a different photo of the couple on her MySpace profile with "Never thought
I'd fall in love like THIS. He OWNS my heart" while Nikki comments below,
"Never saw it coming, but it mowed us down like a freight train... Hell
Yeahhhh, Love is in the air." The couple spends Kat's birthday weekend
at New York City’s Bowery Hotel and get matching tattoos of a Bowery
Boy.
Born Katherine Von Drachenberg on 8 March
1982 as Mötley Crüe was selling-out shows at the Troubadour, the Whisky
and the Country Club, Kat set a world record last December by creating
four-hundred tattoos in a twenty-four-hour period. After splitting with
her tattoo artist husband Oliver Peck last April, Kat was dating Whitestarr
drummer Alex 'Orbi' Orbison, son of music great Roy Orbison. Orbi has
now announced on his MySpace page that he and Von D have split. Nikki
and Kat met through mutual friends in Scott Ian of Anthrax and his partner
Pearl Aday.
11/3/08
Sixx: A.M. films a video for the song Pray For Me, which will be the
third single release from The Heroin Diaries book soundtrack
CD.
13/3/08
Nikki says work in the studio on the next Mötley Crüe album is flowing
nicely. “We were all together again today plotting, planning, designing,
listening and the band seems to have the old bite back, but we will
let you be the judge of that when its time. I do know the people around
us (the ones we can trust) are feeling the magic from the songs, so
maybe it’s not only in our heads.”
He also confirms that he and Kat Von
D are together. “We’ve been ‘just’ friends since last summer. She was
going through a brutal divorce (as was I) and we were friends. Along
the way, she met a great guy (Orbi) and we were friends through that
too. They broke up and we were still ‘just’ friends. I’ve never had
a friend become the girl. Yes, it caught us both by surprise, as I’m
sure some of you – it’s understandable. We are very, very happy together.
I hope it shows in our art and music. Nothing is better for artists
than complete connection. Oh, one last thing: when I felt myself falling
for her, she was all walls and barricades, an invisible bodyguard on
call every time I even tried to allude to or use the evil smirk to get
closer to her heart – so if you think bad of anyone, let it be me.”
15/3/08
James Michael says, "I’ve been locked away in the studio for the last
couple of months producing the new Mötley Crüe record and can I just say
that it is truly incredible! The songs are stellar and the band is at
the top of their game, rocking harder than ever. I get chills every
morning when I step into the studio and hear playback on what we did
the night before. I am so proud of this record. You’re going to fucking
love it!"
John Corabi plays an acoustic performance
with Dilana at the grand opening of the Mystikal Voyage new age shop
in Baltimore.
17/3/08
A Mötley Crüe
press release states all four original members will make a "colossal"
announcement in Los Angeles on April 15 at a location to be determined,
adding, "this will by far be one of the biggest music announcements
of the year!" The Crüe will fly out one lucky grand prize winner from
each major city across the country for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to cover this announcement in Los Angeles and the chance to interview
the band and have it broadcast live.
20/3/08
Nikki and Mick have tentatively settled the lawsuit against former Mötley
Crüe co-manager Carl Stubner. According to a two-page settlement
agreement, a request for dismissal will be filed by May 31 based on
the successful completion of the undisclosed terms arrived at by the
parties. A hearing scheduled for tomorrow is cancelled. Nikki, Mick
and the corporations Mötley Crüe Inc. and Red, White & Crüe Inc. (not
including Vince) sued Stubner, who still represents Tommy, for more
than $20 million last June, alleging breach of fiduciary duties and
constructive fraud.
In the evening, Nikki and Kat are guests
at the launch party for M.A.C. Cosmetics' Heatherette collection in
Los Angeles before attending a cocktail party for the Details magazine
Mavericks 2008 issue in Beverly Hills.
25/3/08
At 9:34pm, Mario Barth of Starlight Tattoo is recorded
by Guinness World Records as having performed the first-ever tattoo
in high altitude. He tattoos a mermaid on Tommy's left thigh in-flight
in a luxurious Gulfstar G-4 private jet traveling from Burbank Airport
to the Miami Executive Aviation. Tommy and DJ Aero travel to Miami to
DJ at the 23rd annual Winter Music Conference.
Fan reaction is very favourable
when they hear a preview of Mötley
Crüe's forthcoming first single Saints of Los Angeles as it is premiered
on radio.
29/3/08
A Blu-ray Disc version of Mötley
Crüe's Carnival of Sins DVD is released by Warner Music Group (WEA).
30/3/08
The Sixx:A.M. song Life is Beautiful reaches the number one position
on U.S. rock radio charts, dislodging Puddle of Mudd in a top five rounded
out by Seether, Three Doors Down and Foo Fighters. DJ Ashba says, "This
is a lifetime dream come true for me, and I am speechless!"
31/3/08
Discovery Networks' eco-centric Planet Green has signed Tommy and hip
hop superstar Ludacris to star in Battleground Earth, a reality competition
that features the duo battling against the toxic forces destroying Mother
Earth as they travel across the U.S. on a ten-episode tour set to premiere
this August. A press release says viewers will witness the two stars
pushed to the limit as they attempt to keep their high-wattage acts
on an eco-friendly course. Enlisting the help of their posses, celebrity
guests, and anyone else willing to lend a hand, Ludacris and Tommy will
dive right into the Battleground Earth competition with unexpected and
sometimes hilarious results. Throughout the tour they will battle to
get the word out about the state of the environment. This rap 'n' roll
battle is set to culminate in a green carpet benefit concert at Los
Angeles' legendary Greek Theater, featuring Luda, Tommy and many of
their famous musician friends in support of the renewal of Griffith
Park, which was devastated by recent wildfires.
Tommy says, "I was definitely
not down to do another reality show because we have too many of those
and they're stupid. But I'm doing this for my kids. Environmentalism
is a serious sort of subject but you've got to make it fun or you freak
people out."
3/4/08
During a solo performance at the free weekly Clematis By Night party
in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida, Vince announces from stage that
Mötley Crüe will kick-off its upcoming tour at the Cruzan Amphitheatre
in West Palm Beach.
4/4/08
Billboard announces Nikki has been named the President of Eleven Seven
Records where he will oversee a roster that includes Buckcherry, Trapt,
Drowning Pool, Marion Raven and up-and-coming rock outfit Chosen Son.
"I find it very interesting to take the artist’s craft, the art, the
music, the image, and get it out there," Nikki says. "It comes under
the heading of ’record company President,’ but it’s a little more than
that. I’ve had enough success and enough misfires in a career that’s
lasted over twenty five years that I can go back and draw on that experience,
and I think that’s helpful for the artists. When I go into rehearsal
rooms and meet with bands, they’re genuinely excited to be with me because
of what I’ve done as an artist, not because of anything else."
Nikki also says the new Mötley Crüe studio album "is one of those albums
that I just feel it in my stomach that something’s happening with the
band. There’s a newfound energy in the songs. It’s just a rebirth of
that really dirty, rock and roll side of Mötley Crüe."
11/4/08
The full-version of the new Mötley Crüe single Saints of Los Angeles
is premiered to fans via an exclusive stream at
Spinner.com.
12/4/08
Nikki says, "The album's done, the video's done, the artwork is done,
the photo sessions are all wrapped up and the single is ready to go
to radio, rehearsals start tomorrow; wow... it’s been so busy, it feels
like I'm leaving a few things out… and I probably am. I know a lot of
you have heard Saints of Los Angeles on the web - if you like the single,
just wait 'til you see the video. OK, my eyes are red, and it's a rare
night to not have to work, so I'm gonna sit back and feel good about
all the hard work. I hope you all like it as much as we do."
15/4/08
During a press conference at Avalon Hollywood, Mötley Crüe announces
they will headline their own summer rock festival Crüe Fest 2008, also
featuring Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M. and Trapt. Produced by Live
Nation and billed as "the summer's loudest show on Earth" the two-month
tour launches July 1 in West Palm Beach, Florida at the appropriately-named
Cruzan Amphitheatre, and will hit forty major North American cities
throughout July and August. "We are so excited not only to headline
our own annual summer festival, but also to be able to share the stage
with the next generation of great rock bands. There's not a lot Mötley
Crüe hasn't done so to say this summer's festival is going to be about
rock 'n' roll excess is an understatement. A night of hit songs by great
bands and a trail of panties coast to coast... Crüe Fest, hell yeah!"
says Nikki in a statement. When asked if the festival will travel overseas,
he says, "We've been talking about it. First things first, we are playing
the shows in America to start out and that'll take us into August or
September, then we're deciding what we do from there - whether its Europe
or South America, I think we're going to find out first what it feels
like to have these bands all together and then we'll see what happens.
We're excited, that's all I know."
Mötley Crüe also reveals their new album will be titled Saints of Los
Angeles and is ready to hit stores June 17. Vince says the album with
all of the band's original members takes the band back to their roots:
"The album, Saints of Los Angeles, represents us growing up in Los Angeles
– sights, sounds and smells. It's the first record in over ten years
that we've put out together as a real studio album. It's really worth
the wait – the songs are amazing, the stories are amazing. It's a great
album and we can't wait to get out and play the whole thing." At 5pm
Mötley performs Kickstart My Heart and Saints of Los Angeles live at
the event with the latter airing on ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel Live in the evening. Towards the end of the last song, Vince is joined on
backing vocals by the singers of the participating bands: Josh Todd
of Buckcherry, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, James Michael of Sixx:
A.M. and Chris Brown of Trapt. The Saints of Los Angeles video also
features these singers at the end of the song. The video was shot inside
the former Nabisco biscuit company factory at 673 S. Mateo St, Los Angeles.
A winged Marion Raven can be seen sitting atop Nikki's amp during the
video's live performance scenes.
Furthermore, the band has joined forces with Harmonix and MTV Games
to be the first band to offer the title-track as a download in the Xbox
360 and PlayStation computer game Rock Band, which challenges players
to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune while learning
to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Currently available on
iTunes, the Saints of Los Angeles single is also released on Motley
Records as a download from today via Xbox Live Marketplace and via the
PlayStation Store in two days-time. At each stop on the tour, Rock Band
fans will get the chance to battle it out in their very own Rock Band
for the chance to take the Crüe Fest concert stage between acts and
become the local Rock Band champion.
The Saints of Los Angeles
single is the #1 Most Added to Rock Radio in the US and Canada.
23/4/08
The winners of the 12th Annual PRISM Awards are announced at a gala
dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Nikki is the winner in the Music
Recording category for his Heroin Diaries project and is commended
for his accurate portrayal of addiction on the album. The PRISM
Awards, presented by the Entertainment Industries Council in
collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration and FX Network, reflect the entertainment industry’s
commitment to the accurate depiction of addiction and health issues
in film, television, music, comic books and interactive
entertainment.
24/4/08
Jeff Blando says the Vince Neil solo
band is getting ready to work on an album. "We've
got to write something that fits his personality and his persona. We're
starting out Dana and myself, and then we'll bring Vince in and Zoltan
[Chaney], the drummer. The game plan is I think Dana and myself are
going to go out with Vince while he's on the Crüe Fest. We're actually
taking the rig out with us, I believe, and we're going to be working
with Vinnie and writing on the days off. Try not to miss any time we
have together to get this thing forward as quickly as we can."
25/4/08
Playboy.com premieres the uncensored
music video for the new Sixx: A.M. single Pray for Me. The steamy video
airs exclusively at playboy.com for four days.
Tommy and Ludacris film
some scenes for their Battleground Earth eco-reality TV show at the
Stockyards Championship Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas.
28/4/08
Sarnia Councilor Dave Boushy tries to convince city council that the
city should have some say about what acts perform at Bayfest, following
a recent call to action from Mooretown grandfather Gord Park, appealing
to churches, politicians, service clubs and protection agencies to mobilise
and stop acts like Mötley Crüe from performing in Sarnia. He said Mötley
Crüe's off-stage antics are "pornographic" and could harm the city's
image. However the council does not support him, and several members
say they don't want to become a censor board for outdoor events, even
those on city-owned property. Bayfest organiser Michele Stokley says,
"Nikki Sixx can speak in Washington, but Boushy says he shouldn't come
to Sarnia? If you know nothing about the band, how can you judge them?"
29/4/08
As she winds up work on her
album, Dilana heads to Mick's home
studio with Dave Basset to record his guitar track on one of her songs
saying, "Exciting stuff, I know he's gonna give it that last sprinkle
of magic dust that the EIGHT, yes 8-minute song needs!"
2/5/08
Vince hosts the Twelfth Annual Skylar
Neil Memorial Golf Tournament at Lost Canyons Golf Club in Simi Valley,
California. Amongst the guests are Biohazard's Evan Seinfeld, Britney
Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline and various porn stars.
8/5/08
Tommy joins all-star covers band Camp Freddy on stage at the Roxy in
West Hollywood. At the end of The Cult's classic Lil Devil, he takes
over a drum kit alongside Matt Sorum and the two launch into a drum
duel. Others to share the stage on the night include Slash, Linkin Park's
Chester Bennington, plus the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook.
9/5/08
Nikki is this year's honouree at
Covenant House California's ninth annual Awards Gala held at the Beverly
Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. With
a portion of proceeds from Nikki's Heroin Diaries best-seller going
to his charity Running Wild in The Night, a creative arts program for
Covenant House California at their youth shelters in Los Angeles and
Oakland, he is able to present the organisation with a cheque for more
than $250,000. Previous Covenant House California Awards Gala honourees
and participants include Charlize Theron, Ray Charles, William Shatner,
Andy Garcia, Smokey Robinson, Sharon Osbourne, and Brittany Murphy.
12/5/08
The release of Mötley's new album is pushed back a week to allow inclusion
of a final track titled Goin' Out Swingin'. In a press release, Nikki
says, "Before our performance at the press conference, we were firing
on all cylinders at sound check just jamming out, and that's when the
new idea came. We quickly laid it down and went to the studio to record
it, and liked it so much we pushed back the release one week so that
we could get it onto the album — it now has thirteen tracks. It's the
ultimate song to end the record with and begin the new chapter of our
career."
13/5/08
Mick doesn't like the sound of having to continue paying palimony to
his ex-girlfriend Robbie Mantooth that he is suing, so he asks a judge
if he can suspend the payments until trial. Mick originally filed the
suit against Mantooth in Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2006,
alleging that she breached the terms of a settlement of a palimony suit
between the former couple. He is asking for unspecified punitive damages
and attorneys' fees. Under the settlement of the previous lawsuit between
Mick and Mantooth, he gave her a down payment and agreed to pay an additional
$5,070 a month on a balance of $300,000, according to his court papers.
He claims Mantooth promised not to disclose any financial information
about him to anyone in exchange for receiving the monthly payments,
but she later gave information about Mick's account at City National
Bank to a debt collection agency after they contacted her regarding
money she owed, according to his current lawsuit. Mantooth also allegedly
told the collection agency that Mick misappropriated her money and agreed
to pay her debts, the lawsuit states.
In court papers filed today, Mick maintains alleged breaches by Mantooth
are grounds for not having to pay her any further support. In a hearing
scheduled for June 6, he is asking Judge Edward A. Ferns to suspend
his payment obligations until the trial is completed. Mick maintains
that two delays in the start of the trial from January to the current
September 15 date have virtually assured Mantooth of continuing to receive
money to which she might not otherwise have been entitled if the musician
wins his case. Ferns granted the two delays in the trial due to the
illnesses of Mantooth and her lawyer.
23/5/08
Tommy is set to lend his voice to a new half-hour, animated TV show
titled The Life and Times of Jimmy Jaxx, loosely based on his own life.
The project revolves around a rocker who attempts to balance his crazy
lifestyle on the road with a calmer existence at home. The character
is distracted, however, by his tattoos — which come to life and are
constantly trying to lead him down the wrong path. Tommy says, "I've
always loved the animated world. How fun and kooky is this gonna be,
to combine some real-life experiences with some seriously over-the-top
humour." Smart Entertainment (Blades of Glory) is behind the project,
currently in the early stages of development at Fox.
26/5/08
Mötley Crüe's
new single Saints of Los Angeles sold ten thousand copies on iTunes and Amazon
in the U.S. and Canada upon its release last month, whereas on the video
game Rock Band forty seven thousand copies were sold on the Xbox 360 version alone.
28/5/08
The Battleground Earth: Ludacris
V Tommy Lee event takes place at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Other
artists to perform include Rock Star Supernova, Switchfoot, Train with
The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, Blue Man Group with special guest
Ziggy Marley, members of Velvet Revolver with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons,
plus Bowling For Soup with Twisted Sister's Dee Snider.
29/5/08
The Crüe begins rehearsing in a Hollywood studio space with Sixx: A.M.
also rehearsing next door. They prepare to play three of the new songs
this tour. Vince stays in the Fours Seasons in Beverly Hills.
2/6/08
Mick says Mötley Crüe is "working on a world tour, not a world festival
tour, but we're doing forty or more dates on Crüe Fest and then after
that we'll do Europe and Japan. There are tons of festivals to do in
Europe. And in Japan we'll go over and play eight or ten gigs, because
it's not a very big place. Then we'll hit Australia and hopefully new
places like Argentina. And of course, we'll play Mexico City." When
asked his thoughts on the band's new album, he says, "It sounds to me
like vintage Crüe - meaning Feelgood, Girls, Girls, Girls and that kind
of stuff - but at the same time, it's more modern sounding. The rawness
from back then is on the album, but the songs are more modern. They
fit into the genre today, instead of sounding like it's 1980. It's modern,
but it's Mötley too."
Mick also updates fans on the band's movie based on their autobiography
The Dirt. "The movie is still in the works. I've gotten a few scripts,
but they weren't true to the story, so I didn't care much for them personally.
It was like they wanted to do a Monkees kind of thing. And that ain't
Mötley Crüe. They keep trying to polish it up, but we're a lot different
than most of the scripts we've gotten. So the movie is still in the
works, but we've still got to find the right director and find the right
script and everything else. It will come out, but I don't know when."
9/6/08
During a Rockline interview, Sixx: A.M. front man James Michael says
Papa Roach's drummer Tony Palermo will perform double-duty and also
drum for Sixx: A.M. on the forthcoming Crüe Fest tour. Palermo used to
drum for punk band Unwritten Law. Vince says it took three to four months
for the new Crüe songs and album to come together.
11/6/08
Mötley Crüe, Inc. files a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court
against the band's former co-manager Burt Stein and his companies, accusing
him of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, while seeking
declaratory relief. Stein held a dual role serving as one of Mötley's
managers and also as the personal manager for Vince Neil. The band claims
Stein tried to cash-in on the Crüe's popularity and used his position
as their music manager to promote his own agenda in order to achieve
financial gain by obstructing the business relationships of Mötley Crüe.
In the suit, the band states: "Stein used his position as a band manager
to attempt to extract money for himself to the detriment of Mötley Crüe."
This includes allegations that he set up and booked appearances and
activities for Vince that conflicted with the priority Mötley Crüe schedule.
The file also claims Stein's management agreement would terminate if
and when the band entered into a new management agreement. Even though
that occurred in February this year, they claim Stein is continuing
to demand commissions for managerial services performed and taking the
position he is still a co-manager when he is not.
Burt Stein returns fire
by filing a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe and its management company in
Nashville's federal court, accusing them of trying to cut him out of
the percentage of revenues he has shared in for many years. In his breach
of contract suit, Stein claims that band manager Allen Kovac has been
threatening to sue him over the 1.875 percent cut he receives from the
band's earnings as Vince's personal manager, dating back to a September
1996 agreement with Mötley's management company for so long as Vince
is the lead singer of Mötley Crüe and Stein's written personal management
agreement with Vince is in effect. Stein entered into a new five-year
personal management deal with Vince just fourteen months ago, and claims
he is owed monies stemming from Mötley Crüe's multi-million dollar recording
and touring agreement with Live Nation executed in March this year.
When Rolling Stone magazine
visits Mötley Crüe in their Hollywood rehearsal studio as they prepare
for their summer Crüe Fest tour, Tommy tells them that he's back with
his ex-wife Pamela Anderson. "Pamela and the kids have moved in with
me. It's awesome, man. It's definitely working. You can tell on the
kids' faces - they're happy when we're together. We've only given it
a try 800 times - 801, here we go."
16/6/08
After seeing their full stage set for the first time
at rehearsals earlier in the day, the Mötley band members are interviewed
in the Rockline studio for the U.S. National Radio Premiere of the Saints
of Los Angeles album. During the interview they say the new album's
opening track L.A.M.F. was inspired by Bowie's opening to his Diamond
Dogs album, which originally inspired Shout At The Devil's opening track
In The Beginning. They say Mick started writing songs for the album
last October. Writing then got more serious with Nikki in December,
before work started with James Michael. Tommy says the concept for the
album cover design was seeded by his crucifix necklace that features
a naked girl instead of Jesus.
18/6/08
The Japanese version of the new Mötley
Crüe studio album Saints of Los Angeles is released, featuring
two exclusive bonus tracks: Kickstart
My Heart (Live & Rare) and Saints Of Los Angeles (Live & Rare), both
taken from the band's recent press conference performance.
The limited edition features high quality SHM-CD format (compatible
with standard CD players) and bonus DVD with music videos and interviews.
DVDs are region-2 encoded (Japan, Europe, and Middle East), and carry
no subtitles.
A major book deal is
signed with Grand Central to publish an official biography on Vince
authored by Alan Parker. The book promises to tell the unfiltered
story from the band's most controversial member including the real
reason for their initial breakup, the impact of his daughter's
death, and changing band dynamics, in addition to all the insane
stories of rock'n'roll excess.
19/6/08
Frustrated that the long-awaited movie about their lives is going nowhere
with Paramount Pictures and MTV Films,
Mötley Crüe
is now looking for new partners. Nikki tells Reuters, "We're trying
to get them out of the way to make this movie that should have been
made a long time ago. MTV has become bogged down in its own way. It's
a channel that used to be hip and has now actually become unhip. We
signed with them because we believed they were right, but they haven't
come to the table. We need to find the right partner. They are not the
right partner."
20/6/08
Mötley Crüe are guests on CNN's Larry
King Live, where they answer questions from viewers and Larry, interspersed
with footage of Larry taking a drum lesson from Tommy and playing Mick's
guitar during his recent visit to the band's rehearsal studio near the
Burbank airport.
22/6/08
Mötley Crüe headlines day two of Heavy MTL festival on Saint-Hélène
Island in Montreal, Canada in front of thirteen thousand fans. After
opening with Kickstart My Heart, they play Saints of Los Angeles as
their fourth song - the only number from the new album. After a dozen
songs and a solo from Mick, they leave the stage before returning with
Home Sweet Home as their encore to close the festival. Other bands that
played before them include Disturbed, Three Days Grace, Anthrax, Voivod,
Shadows Fall, Drowning Pool, Warrant, and Priestess.
23/6/08
Nikki says his tattoo artist girlfriend Kat has been going over all
his old tattoos and re-colouring them, re-outlining them and re-doing
a lot of them. "We're about 50% done. After so many years of sun, fun
and putting them through hell, it's amazing what they look like now;
better than new, just fucking bad ass to be honest." One tattoo re-styled
is the skull on his outside right forearm that had the initials SSRR
inked on its bandana when Sex Sex Rock n Roll was the working title
of the Dr. Feelgood album - it now reads SOLA.
Kat has also been tattooing new work on Nikki. He says, "She has done
a huge piece on my right ribcage: it's an angel I took a photo of in
a cemetery when I was in Milan, Italy. Underneath it, from my lower
back wrapping around to my lower stomach, it says Los Angeles. The detail
blows my mind. She's just about finished with portraits of all my children
on my left calf; they cover every inch of my leg. I can just look down
whenever I miss them and see their faces. They're all from photos I
took of them - something so personal about having her tattoo my own
photography on me. The fact that we're so in love, so in synch and so
much on the same path in life makes us even closer during and after
the tattoo experience. Obviously I've never been in love with my tattoo
artist before, so this is a pretty big high for both of us. It's all
about the ones we love - like the tattoo of my grandfather on my left
thigh she just finished. You should have seen his face when he saw it.
I think after eighty years on earth and all he has done and seen, this
one totally blew everything else away and blew his mind. He's pretty
smitten with Kat too; that just put him over the top." Nikki concludes
by saying, "I finally met my other half. Yes, I'm happy as hell. This
is gonna be a great year for both of us."
24/6/08
Mötley Crüe's ninth studio album Saints of Los Angeles is released in
the U.S. on Mötley Records. Nikki
and Marti Frederiksen have song-writing credits on every song on the
album, along with other co-writers: James Michael is credited on every
song except Welcome To The Machine. DJ Ashba is credited on every song
except The Animal in Me and This Ain't a Love Song, which is the only
song that Tommy co-wrote. Mick co-wrote seven songs on the album (tracks
six through twelve), while Vince says he was on holidays when the album
was written. The album's lyrics thematically follow the band’s chronological
history and reference themes introduced in their autobiography The Dirt.
The album is recorded, produced,
engineered and mixed by James Michael at his home studio called the
Lightning Bolt Garage; he is also credited for his programming, keyboards
and backing vocals work. The album is co-produced by Nikki and DJ Ashba,
who also performed additional engineering at his Ashbaland Studios,
as did Viggy Vignola at Tommyland Studios. It's the first Mötley album
where there was not a single time that all four band members were together
in the studio at the same time during its recording. Other backing vocals
are credited to Vince, Melissa Harding, and Marti Frederiksen, who is
best known for his work with Aerosmith since the mid-'90s. He has also
worked with numerous acts, co-writing and/or performing on albums by
Def Leppard and Fuel, as well as Buckcherry's latest hit single Sorry.
To celebrate the album's
release, Mötley plays Saints of Los Angeles live on The Late Show with
Dave Letterman on CBS. Vince drives his fellow band members to the show's
New York studios at the Ed Sullivan Theatre on Broadway in a black '53
Cadillac convertible, followed by a procession of motorbikes.
25/6/08
A ten-album Mötley Crüe SHM-CD cardboard sleeve back catalogue reissue
series is released is Japan, featuring the albums Too Fast For Love,
Shout At The Devil, Theatre Of Pain, Girls Girls Girls, Dr. Feelgood,
Mötley Crüe, Generation Swine, Supersonic & Demonic Relics, Live: Entertainment
Or Death, and New Tattoo.
1/7/08
The Crüe Fest tour kicks off in front of 8,700 fans at
Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida. After Sixx: A.M.’s
set earlier in the evening, Nikki performs double-duty for the first
time in his career as Mötley begins their ninety-minute set with Kickstart
My Heart, followed by Wild Side and Shout At The Devil. The stage features
Los Angeles written backwards behind them, a-la the landmark Hollywood
Sign. Two songs from the new album are played: the title track Saints
of Los Angeles (with the singers of the other bands on the bill) and
Motherfucker of the Year, separated by Live Wire and Tommy’s Tittie
Cam interlude. Backed by an impressive light show and a heap of pyrotechnics,
Mötley plays six more loud classics from their catalogue of hits, before
returning to the stage for a closing encore of Home Sweet Home with
Tommy on piano.
2/7/08
Mötley Crüe's new album Saints of Los Angeles debuts at number four
on the Billboard 200 chart after selling 99,000 copies in the United
States during its first week of release. It's the biggest sales week
for the Crüe since Christmas 1991 when Decade of Decadence sold 121,000
copies. Mötley's last studio effort with all of its original members
was 1997's Generation Swine, which debuted and peaked at number four
on The Billboard 200 after sales of 80,500 copies.
Coldplay's fourth album Viva La Vida remains at number one for a second
week after selling 249,000 copies, while Lil Wayne's album Tha Carter
III holds second spot this week with 209,000 copies. The Jonas Brothers-led
soundtrack to the Disney Channel's hit TV movie Camp Rock stays at number
three after sales of 169,000. The Crüe reaches number one on Billboard's
Top Independent Albums chart, and number two in both the Top Rock Albums
and Top 10 Internet album charts.
7/7/08
Nikki says he is sharing a Crüe Fest tour bus with James Michael and
DJ Ashba and they are already writing the next Sixx: A.M. album.
8/7/08
Mick says his degenerative Ankylosing Spondylitis disease has left him
unable to move his head and has also been shrinking him over the years.
"If I could go places I would, but I'm stuck. This stuff I have won't
allow me to move my head, so I can't drive. It's quite an inconvenience.
I used to be almost five-foot-nine, and I'm just a little over five-three
now. It stinks... I'm just squashed."
Tommy tells an Australian radio station that Mötley is definitely coming
down-under soon. "I just saw a rough itinerary but I don't want to quote
any dates just in case they shift around but we're definitely coming
there. I think what we're going to do when we head over to Europe, Australia,
New Zealand and Japan is bring maybe one or two bands with us - it might
be Buckcherry or Papa Roach. Then what we wanted to do in each country
was support the local talent there, so maybe have three Australian bands,
and so on."
16/7/08
When asked if he has ever considered returning to his roots and making
a blues album, Mick responds to his interviewer, "Absolutely, and I am
going to do that. My plans are a little different from what the other
guys in the band have done with their solo stuff. Have you heard the
album Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, or The Beatles' Sergeant Peppers
or Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix? Those albums have something more
to them that just the music, something special that stands out. What
I wanna do is record with a lot of my friends who I've met over the
years, a bunch of really different talented musicians, to all come in
and do something. Different singers, guitar players, bass players from
all types of bands - kind of like what Hendrix did on Electric Ladyland
- and then I'm gonna record it at Electric Ladyland studios, and you
can only get it on vinyl. I've got it all worked out."
20/7/08
Mick's girlfriend Seraina Schönenberger says in an interview that it
was love at first sight when she met him in Switzerland just over thirteen
months ago. "I am totally in love. [He is] the man of my life... We
are the perfect couple. You never know, maybe someday we will actually
get married." Twenty-three-year-old
Schönenberger appears in the Saints
of Los Angeles video and has been traveling with the band on their current
tour.
21/7/08
Sixx: A.M. sends their next single called Tomorrow to radio stations,
almost a year after first single Life is Beautiful from their debut disc The Heroin
Diaries hit the airwaves last summer. The song is selected by NAADAC,
the Assn. for Addiction Professionals, as one of the themes for
their forthcoming National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery
Month.
25/7/08
Young cancer survivor Tanner Onder meets his favourite rock star,
Nikki Sixx. The backstage meeting is arranged by the Make-A-Wish
Foundation, which flew Tanner and his family to Denver, Colorado to
see Crüe Fest. Sixx: A.M. dedicates his favourite song Life is
Beautiful to him.
26/7/08
While Mötley plays at Albuquerque's Journal Pavilion, Nikki's bodyguard
Kimo Silva is involved in an incident after he allegedly refuses to
leave an area when asked by security and police. Police allege Kimo
pushed a venue security guard and fought with several sheriff's deputies,
spitting in one's face, before they used a taser twice to subdue him.
They handcuff him but release him during the concert when deputies fear
the Crüe will quit playing and the crowd could become disruptive. When
deputies asked Kimo why he was being combative with deputies, he said
he had "the right to be where he was... he was working and they should
not have been messing with him." He denies pushing the security guard
and says he accidentally spat on the deputy because he was drooling
from being struck with a taser. Kimo is later charged in Metropolitan
Court with battery and resisting law enforcement.
31/7/08
Mötley Crüe has an official day named after it by the City of Los Angeles'
mayor's office. From now on, July 31 will be known as "Mötley Crüe Day"
in honour of the band. The band members are presented with commemorative
documents from Mayor Tony Villar at a press conference at Guitar Center
on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
The press event is also used to announce a partnership between Mötley
Crüe and Guitar Centre as they launch Guitar Center On-Stage - Your
Chance To Make Rock History. The competition will provide one up-and-coming
U.S. band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity: the chance to win
a prize package that includes an opening slot on Mötley Crüe's 2009
U.S. tour, $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar,
management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven
Seven Music - Mötley's management and record label.
Starting today through 21 September, bands across the United States
are invited to submit their music at makerockhistory.com
to enter. A judging panel including Tenth St. Entertainment and Eleven
Seven Records will then review the top bands, selecting thirty bands to
advance to regional evaluation events to be held in mid-October at Guitar Center locations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. After narrowing
the list to the top six bands at the regional events, Guitar Center
will host a final round of evaluation on 12 November at Guitar Center
Hollywood, where each of the six bands will perform live for members
of Mötley Crüe. One band will be notified via a personal phone call
from a member of Mötley Crüe that they have been chosen as the winner
and that the grand prize is theirs.
Mick says, "Our partnership with Guitar Center gives us the opportunity
to help an up-and-coming band by giving them every element needed to
succeed. Like Ozzy did for us when he took an unknown band called Mötley
Crüe on the road, we too are looking for the next generation's great
rock band."
1/8/08
Mötley Crüe performs a live global concert from the Mandalay Bay in
Las Vegas. The event is available live online, free of charge, to anyone
with broadband Internet access. This tour sees the Crüe's set begin
with a shadow play behind a curtain featuring a fight between a winged
angel, a devil and the fevered voice of a preacher intoning warnings
about sin. Mick's small solo interlude features a portion of Voodoo
Child from Jimi Hendrix's 1967 album Electric Ladyland. After her performance
part in the set's opening, long-time Mötley stage performer Jozie Di
Maria brings Vince his guitar before Don't Go Away Mad and Same Ol'
Situation are played.
3/8/08
Battleground Earth featuring Tommy
and Ludacris premieres on the Planet Green eco-lifestyle channel. The
series is a reality competition that features the duo battling against
the toxic forces destroying Mother Earth as they travel across the country
on a ten-episode tour. Enlisting the help of their posses, aka 'ecorages,' Ludacris taps Willie Box, Sesean Bridges, and Tony '4
Ize' Hayes III while Tommy relies on Diggity Dave, Johnny Colt, and
Nina Bergman to help him get to the finish line. Celebrity guests include
Jane Fonda, Sean Combs, Pamela Anderson, and Gene Simmons.
7/8/08
Tommy is a guest on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his new Battleground
Earth series. He also talks about his two sons, Mötley's
current tour and his backstage dressing room.
8/8/08
During Mötley's concert at Seattle's White River Amphitheatre, Nikki
dedicates Primal Scream to his sister Ceci in the crowd of more than
fourteen thousand fans.
18/8/08
Following weeks of rumours, Bobby Blotzer confirms that former Quiet
Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo will be joining Ratt as the replacement
for rhythm guitarist John Corabi. John's final show with Ratt is scheduled
for September 6 in Virginia Beach.
22/8/08
Vince says he put a pedometer on recently and learned he's running
twelve miles on stage during the Crüe's ninety-minute show. To look
after his voice, he ensures he doesn't take time off from singing.
For his pre-show ritual he goes into the bathroom and screams as
loud as he can, but that's as much of a vocal warm-up as he does.
28/8/08
Mötley Crüe's performance at Toronto's Molson
Amphitheatre is filmed for a forthcoming Crüe Fest Live DVD.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario suspended the
fifteen-thousand-seat venue's liquor license from 11am until 2am
after the concert, meaning that no booze could be sold at the venue
for the day-long, multi-act concert. The suspension apparently came
from various infractions that took place during last year's concert
season.
31/8/08
The first annual Crüe Fest tour comes to an end at the Post-Gazette
Pavilion in Pittsburgh. After forty one concerts over two months
across North America, the band will take a break in September before
playing some international shows in October.
14/9/08
Author Alan Parker flies to San Francisco where final interviews for
the official Vince Neil biography are carried out in The Marriott
Hilton Hotel near Vince's home.
18/9/08
Nikki speaks at the
Jacobs Media Summit 13 in Austin, Texas where he shares his
thoughts on a variety of topics, ranging from audience
connection to brand extension to the music, entertainment, and
radio industries. Jacobs Media is the largest radio consulting
firm in the United States specialising in rock formats. The
company, formed in 1983 by Fred Jacobs, created the classic
rock format, and has been a leading force in alternative and
mainstream rock.
30/9/08
Mötley Crüe's studio
album catalog is re-issued on Mötley Records/Eleven Seven Music
via RED
Distribution. The catalog includes eight chart-topping studio
albums originally released between 1981 and 2000: Too Fast For
Love, Shout at the Devil, Theatre of Pain, Girls, Girls,
Girls, Dr. Feelgood, Mötley Crüe, Generation Swine, and New
Tattoo. Seventeen of the band's classic music videos are also
released as online downloads from digital music stores.
3/10/08
Celebrating his birthday with Mariachi players and mermaid piñatas
as Mötley commences the next leg of their tour with their first-ever
show in Guadalajara, Mexico, Tommy says, "Well into the second song
I smell fire! I'm thinking, 'Oh must be the new smoke machines...
whatever! And then I'm like, 'Wait a minute - that's a fucking FIRE
I smell!' So I come to find out Nikki's dressing room is in a
full-on blaze and mine's next door! You know shit is crazy when you
see your Tour Manager and security runnin' around like it's a
riot... haha! Well, not so funny now 'cause it's really happening
and they're pullin' personal items out of my room, dodging flames 'n
smoke because Nikki's room is torched! So sad; he lost EVERYTHING
but his passport and a few credit cards! Cameras, computer, cell
phone, wardrobe, etc! WOW - what a Bday! RED HOT!"
6/10/08
Former Mötley front-man John Corabi plays his last show with Ratt in
Virginia Beach, VA
8/10/08
Nikki says, "Mexico has been wonderful to us. The fans are so kind
and welcoming. We've had some great shows down here, but now it's
time to say goodbye. Today we're off to Argentina for our first
visit ever. I can't believe we're finally going to South America to
play. The band is ecstatic, to say the least. It's getting harder
and harder for me to take pictures unless it really moves me. My
photography studio back in Los Angeles is under construction and
should be 90% done by the time I return. Words, so many damn words,
flowing out of my head, it's almost like torture. I've written eight
songs, poems, love stories or rancid notes from hell all in the last
two days (I never really understand when I'm writing what the hell
it is I'm doing). I guess we could say Mexico has inspired me."
9/10/08
Saliva's singer Josey Scott says, "Nikki helped save my life, you
know. He got me into rehab out in L.A. and really straightened my
life out. He actually gave me a rosary recently that was blessed by
an archbishop and gave me this beautiful, solid pearl rosary for my
ninth month chip. So I've been sober for nine months." Scott's
recovery has been filmed for a possible new reality series called
Hick Parade, documenting the day-to-day life and activities of
Saliva.
11/10/08
After headlining the Pepsi Music Festival in front of twenty one
thousand people, Nikki says, "Argentina stole our hearts. The
people, their spirit and the beauty of Buenos Aires all came to a
head last night as we hit the stage. We've never been here - a first
- and then it happened: the sky opened up, and I swear to God, he
was smiling on us. I've never seen it rain like that. The rain came
and came and came, on the band, on the crowd, on the equipment,
harder and harder... everything and everybody soaked to the core and
all it did was make us smile bigger and play harder. The crowd all
chanting and jumping in time to the music and the band pushing
harder and harder with the rain. Thank you Argentina. They say the
first cut is the deepest, if so, you hit bone - we love you." When
the band returns for their encore, Nikki comes out with an
Argentinean band and sings Argentina, Argentina. Vince wears an
Argentina team soccer shirt with his name and number ten on the back
as they close the concert with Home Sweet Home.
13/10/08
As the Crüe's first-ever show in Singapore approaches, Nikki says,
"After the success of Mexico and Argentina, we're sitting on pins
and needles to hit the stage. We're hearing the fans have been
waiting so long for Mötley that it's going to be insane. We can't
wait. I've been hearing from fans from Indonesia, Thailand,
Philippines and all around Malaysia and how they're travelling to the
Singapore show."
14/10/08
Mötley's classic album Dr. Feelgood is made available in its
entirety for the Rock Band Xbox 360 video game. The complete
download includes ten songs and is the sixth full CD to make the
Rock Band roster.
Hinder front-man Austin Winkler says they will support Mötley Crüe
on an arena tour beginning in January. Mick plays lead guitar solo
on the title track of Hinder's second album Take It to the Limit,
due for release on November 4. Drummer Cody Hanson says, "He
actually called us up and wanted to do some writing and we were
like, 'Yeah, of course, I mean, would you be interested in playing
some guitar on the album? And he was like, 'Absolutely,' you know.
So we sent him the track and he loved it, and we ended up going up
to his house. And, you know, he laid down a few different passes of
the solo on Take It to the Limit. So it was an amazing experience,
you know, getting to meet one of your idols, I guess."
15/10/08
The Civil Aviation Authority in Singapore organises Mötley Crüe meet
and greet sessions with passengers at Changi Airport's Terminal 2.
Arriving in the island state for its first-ever Asian concert
outside Japan tomorrow night, Vince and Tommy meet with passengers
for a chat, photos and autographs. Previous celebrity sessions at
the airport - the first in the world to offer such a service for
transit passengers - have featured Air Supply, Backstreet Boys,
Bollywood superstars and golfer Annika Sorenstam.
19/10/08
Nikki says "Katherine tattooed a killer portrait of Mick on my leg
and we got to surprise him with it at the Los Angeles Crüe Fest
show. It was a pretty emotional roller coaster ride to share the
whole experience with Katherine, from the beginning of the idea to
the end when we finally show Mick." Footage of the tattoo session
airs on the next episode of Kat's L.A. Ink TV show. Kat says, "At
first, when Nikki brought the idea of getting this tattoo done, I
thought how cool it would be to celebrate a friendship between two
people over three decades! We decided it would be so rad to do the
tattoo without telling Mick, so on the show, you'll be able to see
the tattoo process, as well as the entire High Voltage crew rockin'
it out at Crüe Fest in Los Angeles, which to me, was by far one of
the greatest shows from the tour - amazing energy!" Mick later
says that when he saw the tattoo he was "shocked and honoured. Nikki
getting a tattoo of me is the most amazing thing anyone has ever
done for me. It is a huge honour to have Nikki as my band mate and
friend."
20/10/08
After playing Loud Park Festival in Japan the previous night, Nikki
says, "We had a bad-ass show in Tokyo and there were a ton of cool
bands on the bill, but most notably was Duff McKagan's Loaded. So,
after running into my friend Richard Stark yesterday, we headed down
to a place here in Tokyo and saw Duff play a tiny club - insane.
Every song was a ten. I got an EP and it's all I'm listening to
right now. If you don't have the EP yet, it's called Wasted Heart
and it's a must-have." Duff returns the love by commenting, "Nikki
came down to the Quattro show. I've known that guy now for over
twenty years and that dude is the real article. Let me tell ya,
sometimes the last thing you want to do on a night off on a tour is
go out to see another fucking band! Nikki not only came down, but he
also stayed for the whole show. A class act."
23/10/08
Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe announce the six finalists for the
Guitar Center On-Stage: Your Chance To Make Rock History
competition. The final six bands were chosen from a pool of thirty
semi-finalists over the last two days as each semi-finalist
performed one song live in front of a panel of industry experts at
Guitar Center's legendary Sunset Boulevard location. The final six
bands - The Spittin' Cobras (Seattle, WA), Lorene Drive
(Victorville, CA), The Dirty Pearls (New York, NY), Waterstreet
(Peoria, IL), Something to Burn (Los Angeles, CA) and The Heroine
(San Antonio, TX) - now continue onto the finals to perform live for
Mötley Crüe at the world famous Whisky A Go-Go on November 10 in
Hollywood. The top six bands were chosen by influential leaders in
the music industry, including President of Fuse TV, Eric Sherman;
producer and front-man of Sixx: A.M., James Michael; Music Director
of Los Angeles radio station 98.7, Julie Pilat; Chris Nilsson of
Tenth St. Entertainment and General Manager of Eleven Seven Music,
Frank Woodworth. Since launching the search for the next great
American rock band in August, Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe have had
a staggering 7,930 bands register and close to 175,000 online votes
cast at the program's web site. The site also garnered nearly one
million unique visitors since its launch on August 1.
28/10/08
Nikki's book The Heroin Diaries: A
Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is released in
a paperback edition.
31/10/08
Vince is among the guests at the Las Vegas premiere of Criss Angel
Believe, along with Godsmack's Sully Erna and the members of Hinder.
The sixth Vegas Cirque du Soleil show is unveiled Halloween night
during an extravagant and appropriately spooky gala event.
Something to Burn
withdraw as one of the final six bands in the Guitar Center
On-Stage: Your Chance To Make Rock History competition and are
replaced by The Last Vegas.
10/11/08
In front of a capacity crowd at the world famous Whisky A-Go-Go,
Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe select The Last Vegas from Chicago as
the winner of Guitar Center On-Stage competition. In addition to the
slot on Mötley Crüe's 2009 Saints Of Los Angeles U.S. tour, The Last
Vegas also takes home $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear
from Gibson Guitars, management from Tenth Street Entertainment, and
a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music. In true Crüe fashion, The
Last Vegas also found out that their career is literally going from
0-to-60 overnight by opening for Mötley at the Hollywood Palladium
in Los Angeles in four-days time when the forthcoming tour dates
will also be announced. Vince says, "The overall talent and energy
of The Last Vegas surpassed our expectations. Mötley Crüe is excited
to pass the torch on to these amazing musicians, just as Ozzy did
for us over twenty five years ago."
13/11/08
Tommy takes part in the VH1
Classic Celebrity Bowl-Off tournament at Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood,
joining an exclusive list of actors, celebrities and members of
the music industry who take to the lanes and showcase their
bowling skills to raise awareness for autism at this tournament.
14/11/08
Ahead of their one-off concert for tonight's re-opening of the
legendary Hollywood Palladium,
Mötley announces a twenty-nine date 2009 Saints of Los Angeles tour
across North American with Hinder, Theory of a Deadman and The Last Vegas
in support. The tour kicks off February 2 in San Diego and includes
a New York date at Madison Square Gardens, before concluding
in Portland, ME on March 18.
18/11/08
Vince tells Rolling Stone that he'll be recording his next solo
album in April and probably release it in early November. Fans can
expect the sound to be "a little more aggressive than Mötley, more
like an AC/DC vein."
Tommy is working on a new album from his Methods of Mayhem project
that now includes DJ Aero on turntables, hoping to have the disc
completed by May/June before Crüe Fest 2. Tommy says, "We're gonna do
a Crüe Fest 2, and hopefully we're gonna add another stage, which we
didn't have on this one. You know, it was the first one. But
hopefully we'll have a second stage and more bands too."
23/11/08
The four members of Mötley Crüe present the award for Favourite
Pop/Rock Duo or Group to Daughtry at the 2008 American Music Awards
show held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
25/11/08
Four classic Mötley Crüe
albums are re-issued in vinyl LP format - Too Fast For Love, Shout At The Devil, Girls Girls
Girls, and Dr. Feelgood. The band's latest album Saints of Los
Angeles is also released on vinyl.
Sixx: A.M.'s
The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack is re-released as a deluxe edition CD that includes
a never-before-released EP titled Live is Beautiful, which
can also be purchased separately. The EP, produced by Sixx: A.M. and mixed
by front man James Michael, was compiled from several performances
on this summer's Crüe Fest.
1/12/08
Sixx: A.M.'s hit single Life is Beautiful is named the number
one rock song of 2008 by Mediabase, which is said to be
Nielsen BDS' prime competitor in the field of electronic
airplay monitoring. Each year, Mediabase releases its year-end
charts featuring the most played songs, artists and record
labels of the past twelve months.
2/12/08
Mötley Crüe and Sixx: A.M. feature prominently in the iTunes
Critics Picks for 2008. Saints of Los Angles is the number one
rock song of 2008 as selected by iTunes' Editorial Board,
while Sixx: A.M.'s Life Is Beautiful comes in at number ten.
Sixx: A.M. is also named a Best New Rock Artist of the Year
and also land within the top twenty sales chart, along with
Mötley Crüe. Both bands are on the Eleven Seven Music record
label helmed by President Nikki Sixx who says, "It's so
gratifying to see that iTunes' critics agree that Eleven Seven
Music rocks as we continue our commitment to creating great
rock music."
Vince cancels his European solo
tour just one day prior to the scheduled opening show in
Spain. According to a statement released by the Spanish
concert promoter Rock Music Concert Promotions, their three
dates in Spain were cancelled due to a combination of low
ticket sales and the recent closure of a scheduled venue in
Madrid. Swedish support band Fatal Smile says this Spanish
cancellation subsequently affected the whole European tour.
"The management of Vince Neil thereupon decided to cancel the
tour. All involved parties have tried their best to still let
the tour happen, even the tour promoter didn't give up until
the very last minute."
Nikki and his girlfriend Kat Von D
host a benefit event dubbed "66 Nikki Sixx's" for Covenant
House at the Carmichael Gallery in West Hollywood, California
next door to her High Voltage Tattoo studio. Nikki says, "The
idea started when I told Kat about Running Wild In The Night,
which is the music program I started with Covenant House a few
years back. While I was on tour, she told me about her idea to
draw 66 'Nikkis' (graphite on paper) and showcase her art to
the world. Not only am I honoured to have my girlfriend
support this program, but to have a great artist draw 66
portraits of me pretty much blows my mind." Kat sells prints
of the originals during the event and all the money goes
to Running Wild In The Night and Covenant House.
3/12/08
Mötley Crüe's Saints of Los Angeles is nominated for a
Grammy Award in the Best Hard Rock Performance category,
competing with Disturbed, Judas Priest, The Mars Volta and Rob
Zombie. The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held in Los
Angeles on February 8 next year following the casting of votes
by members of The Recording Academy - an organisation of
musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals -
who decides on the winners of this peer-recognised award for
musical excellence. It's the Crüe's third-ever Grammy
nomination, having been beaten in this category by Living
Colour two years in a row in 1990 and 1991.
Faulty electric wiring sparks a
fire that burns through the roof of The Body Shop - the
landmark Sunset Boulevard strip club best known as the
location for Mötley Crüe's Girls, Girls, Girls video. Upon
hearing about the fire, Tommy emails his band mates, "Let's
put our zippers at half mast!"
4/12/08
Vince releases a statement blaming the cancellation of his
European solo tour on "the promoter's breach of contract." He
says, "I regret not being able to come over to Europe at this
time due to circumstances beyond my control. I hope to be able
to visit next year for a more extensive tour."
To help them choose between Chicks
= Trouble and White Trash Circus as their next single, Mötley
Crüe asks their fans to
vote for their preference.
9/12/08
John Corabi performs on stage during the free Monster
Circus concert at the Las Vegas Hilton, playing a set of some of the
greatest songs of all time with a Las Vegas twist. Other
artists that perform include Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet
Riot, Whitesnake, Dio), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Tony Montana
(Great White), Bobby Rock (Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent
Invasion), Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver), and Dee Snider (Twisted Sister).
Fans bring canned goods for families in need, as well as toys
that are collected by the National Guard as part of the Toys For
Tots campaign.
15/12/08
Burt Stein files a lawsuit in the Nashville District Court
against Vince and Mötley manager Allen Kovac, which again
asserts that Stein is in fact Neil’s manager and therefore
entitled to a percentage of the Vince’s compensation. Back in
June, similar lawsuits were filed both in the Nashville
Federal Court and in Los Angeles. Kovac and the band sued
Stein while, on the same day, Stein fired back in Nashville.
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