The History of Motley Crue

This article was written by Phineas Upham

Nikki Sixx was playing bass for the Los Angeles based band London when he got the idea to form his own band. He brought Tommy Lee aboard as his drummer, and they named themselves “Christmas.” They soon found a classified ad for their guitarist in the local paper: “Loud, Rude, Aggressive Guitarist Available.” Together, they formed Motley Crue 1981.efde2064a8db1a4c25ee9058335b8de0

The Crue didn’t find much success until the release of their third album. But they are not known for their album releases, despite multiple high-selling records. They are primarily a performance band, known for elaborate sets and incredible lighting.

The band also lives the high life off stage as well. Tommy Lee is known for his multiple celebrity marriages, which include Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson. Nikki Sixx has had several brushes with the law over substance abuse, and Vince Neil has been convicted of vehicular manslaughter. Neil was forced to serve 20 days in prison, and he did 200 hours of community service in addition to paying out $2.6 million in damages.

Vince Neil left the band in 1992, which led to him filing a wrongful termination suit against the band. He was replaced by John Carabi, who stayed with the band for two years before Neil was invited back. Those two album releases, both with and without Neil, are considered the Crue’s weakest.

The Crue took a small recording hiatus before doing a reunion tour in 2005. They’ve released a Greatest Hits record that included some new tracks as well. They are also well-known in the entertainment media, where they have given numerous interviews and appeared on multiple reality shows.


About the Author: Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office/hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phineas Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media & Technology group. You may contact Phineas on his Twitter page.