NIKKI SIXX DISCUSSES HIS HEROES, DYING AND OZZY OSBOURNE

With The Dirt movie premiering on Netflix on March 22nd, Motley Crue has been in the news quite a bit lately.

Kory Grow of Rolling Stone spoke with Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, excerpts from the interview appear, below.

Rolling Stone: Who are your heroes and why?

Nikki Sixx: Keith Richards. He’s always kept the standards higher than anybody else. I also love so many Beat Generation writers. Look at the William S. Burroughs story; it’s not always pretty, but art wasn’t supposed to come from pretty places.

Rolling Stone: Like you, Richards and Burroughs both overcame heroin addictions. Is that another reason you look up to them?

Nikki Sixx: When I was first introduced to heroin, it was like, “Oh, these writers, songwriters and painters do that.” I was young and naïve. I didn’t realize the demon it was.

Rolling Stone: You were pronounced dead of a heroin overdose in 1987. What did dying teach you?

Nikki Sixx: That it hurts to come back. My heart stopped. My body stopped. It’s like you turned the computer off and they restart the computer. It felt like I’d been fucking hit by a truck. Every single thing hurt. My hair hurt. That reboot is a bitch.

Rolling Stone: Did dying give you a new perspective on things?

Nikki Sixx: I got a lot of great one-liners now like, “Jesus Christ and I both died and came back.” That doesn’t sit well in the Bible belt. But you’ve got to laugh.

Rolling Stone: Do you have a memory of being dead, like how on TV people say they saw a light?

Nikki Sixx: Let’s just say there was some spiritual intervention. God knows I wasn’t the one responsible for surviving. I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual. If I leaned toward anything, it would be Buddhism.

Rolling Stone: You filled the book [The Dirt] with jaw-dropping groupie stories. What have you learned about women?

Nikki Sixx: I stand 100 percent behind the #MeToo movement. I think we’re in a very great time for equality and we’ve got room to grow. Even though we were f–king animals and the s–t that we did was f–king crazy and the s–t the girls did to us was crazy, there was never a moment ever that anybody in the band took that as an opportunity to wield power. I’m not saying we were angels, but it was all consensual.

Rolling Stone: You’re from Los Angeles. What’s the most L.A. thing about you?

Nikki Sixx: Unfortunately, I think I’ve picked up the word “dude.” I hate using that word, and I’ve used it. I’m sure that’s not what Keith Richards would say.

Rolling Stone: You once watched Ozzy Osbourne snort a line of ants. What did you learn from him?

Nikki Sixx: Ozzy is one of the sweetest men I’ve ever met. But when Sharon wasn’t around, it was like a five-person gang. It was always like, “He topped us again.” I remember the day he walked into our dressing room in a dress. He didn’t act like anything was wrong. We were like, “F–k, I gotta get a dress now.” He was a role model … for rock & roll.

Rolling Stone: What’s the worst part of success?

Nikki Sixx: Just being away from home. I’ve missed so many birthdays and holidays. I remember having Thanksgiving dinner in a Hilton fucking bar, and they were serving turkey sandwiches and beer. I guess that reared its head in our song Home Sweet Home.

Read more at Rolling Stone.