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Piers Morgan Live
Interview with Motley Crue
Aired December 02, 2011 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PIERS MORGAN, HOST: You ever wanted to be a rock star -- I mean a proper rock star -- then this show is for you. Tonight, I'm hanging out with the rudest, baddest, raunchiest band in the history of rock 'n' roll, Motley Crue.
Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars.
Tonight, they're going to give me their first ever sit-down together here at Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go club, place that put them on the map nearly three decades ago.
Nobody does sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll quite as enthusiastically as Motley Crue. And tonight, they promised to teach me a thing or two. This could get messy.
Motley Crue, one night only. This is PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT.
(MUSIC)
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT: So here I am at the world famous Whisky A Go Go club in Hollywood. This is where it all started for my guests tonight, Motley Crue. They literally lived here for six months. This was their home.
Gentlemen, you're still alive. Let's start on a positive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barely.
MORGAN: Thirty years after you lived in this very establishment, I did a quick -- just a quick count, really, of what's happened in those 30 years. I think it could be summarized as drug-fueled rampages, hotel-trashing, self-destruction, bankruptcies, broken marriages, near death, arrests, incarcerations, endless fighting, near deportation.
Thoughts?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sounds like a good time.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if you put it that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a movie. Wow.
MORGAN: How do you feel being back here? It must be a nostalgic thing for you guys? Right?
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: It really was where it started.
VINCE NEIL, MOTLEY CRUE, LEAD SINGER: It's so funny, you know, because we were just talking a minute ago, we're like, when we were younger, we really thought this place was huge. And now we walk in, and we're like, oh, my God this place is small.
(CROSSTALK)
NEIL: We -- how did we get on that stage?
MORGAN: Yes, it's very intimate and it's very -- I mean, it feels historic, doesn't it? I mean, you look around the walls, all the greats played here. What was -- when you first played here, what was the experience like to you?
NEIL: It was pretty exciting, you know, because, you know, all of us grew up here. And so, you know, you want to play the Whisky A Go Go, the Roxy, the Troubadour, Gazares (ph) when it was there. And this is the highlight.
You know, when we played here -- I remember on a weekend, we thought we made it. I mean, that was it. We only wanted to play a weekend at the Whisky A Go Go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MORGAN: Because that was the spot --
NEIL: That was it. That was the big time.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three nights here --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Saturday, Sunday.
NIKKI SIXX, MOTLEY CRUE, BASS GUITARIS: I -- there's a picture somewhere of that, where it's sold out, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and how much bigger do you get than that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was it. We made it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, we've made it. SIXX: Yes, we made it.
MORGAN: Now, Mick, you seem slightly less excited by this whole experience at the moment. Does it not bring back quite the happy memories it does for the others?
MICK MARS, MOTLEY CRUE, LEAD GUITARIST: Let me see, I remember back when The Byrds played here, The Doors played here, all that stuff. And you know, driving by and see all those bands, and I'm more like, "One day, I'm going to be there."
MORGAN: And when you finally did it --
MARS: I always, always thought I was going to be here.
MORGAN: And what was it like to realize that dream?
MARS: You know, like it was like a dream come true. I mean, you know when you're a little guy, and you go by and you see all these people, you see David Crosby out there and stuff, and you go like, whoa. You know? And it's like, I'm going to be there.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: You're almost impossibly glamorous, doesn't it? If you're a rocker, to be on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, in the Whisky A Go Go, even now, it feels glamorous to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MORGAN: I mean, you guys, you know, if you were scripting, if you were creating for a movie a rock band, it would be you guys. You've done everything I would want to do if I was in a rock band.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can join our band.
MORGAN: I would love to join your band.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: Seriously. I could do a bit -- I play a bit of piano and sing badly. I mean, I would fit in quite well.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: You know, I was just thinking that there was -- there was a line down the middle where the stage is over there, and there's the punk rockers that were sort of leftover. There was New Wave that was left over.
And then on this other side, there was these new kids that were coming to see Motley Crue. And it was all kind of meshing. But there was a moment when they actually wouldn't hang out together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. SIXX: And so you had like the Plimsoll (ph) fans over here, and this British invasion of heavy metal fans, and then this glam rock thing that we were doing. And it really kind of set the stage for everything we did in the future.
MORGAN: Do you feel lucky -- to be serious for a moment -- do you feel lucky that you're all still here to remember the early days in the sense that so many of your contemporaries didn't make it? You know, that the ones who lived the life, if you like. Do you feel lucky?
NEIL: I think we're very lucky. You know, so there's like -- kind of like the right time. We're the right time in the right place, you know, for us. And we've just kind of done it right. You know, we've always done it our way, you know, in the last 30 years.
And, you know, we've always kind of tried to reinvent ourselves and the main thing is we got the younger fans now. Like we have the, you know, the 12-year-old kids in Shout the Devil shirts, you know, and then their dads with their 5-year olds up on the -- on their shoulders like first concerts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's really cool.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Now three of you are 50. And one, Tommy, you're 49. So --
SIXX: I'm 49.
MORGAN: Oh, you're 49?
TOMMY LEE: I'm 48.
MORGAN: You're 50?
MARS: No, I'm 60.
MORGAN: You're 49, right?
LEE: Yes.
MORGAN: The rest of you are 50. I mean, this is like a tipping point for many bands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MORGAN: Are you feeling uneasy, anxious? Does 50 mean anything? You look at Mick Jagger and think, he's still bouncing around in his 60s, so can we?
LEE: Yes.
SIXX: He can do it, the Stones can do it, Aerosmith can do it, why can't we? Led Zeppelin. The list goes on.
MORGAN: Just grow old disgracefully?
SIXX: Yes, disgracefully.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: The cliche of being in a great rock band is the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. I can't think of any band in history that has lived up to this expectation better than you guys. Is it all it's cracked up to be, when you look back, do you wish you'd been slightly more temperate?
NEIL: I think we just had fun. You know, I mean, it was -- I mean, when you first had like a little bit of fame and a little bit of money, and there's girls. And, you know, you get a little crazy, and that's what all these many stories when we were, you know, in -- were first starting out in the -- in the early '80s, I think every band does that, you know, where they just --
(CROSSTALK)
LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- eight-ball --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- just didn't talk about --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was worse out of all of us...
MARS: No, I wasn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
MARS: This guy had just turned -- just -- he was just only 18. And in February, he turned 19. This guy had just turned 17. This guy was barely 21. I was already 30.
SIXX: You were not. He was not. He always says that. It's not true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't even know when his birthday is.
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: He has two birthdays -- MORGAN: What I'd like to do is -- don't say that. Your one-time manager had this brilliant description of you all in the book, "The Dirt," and I want to just go through with you, each one by one, to see if you agree with his assessment of you individually.
So, Vince, he said, "Managing the band was never easy. They're four damaged individuals. Vince, the California surfer rock guy, the peacock of peacocks, never really had to work for his fame."
NEIL: I disagree with that. I was -- I mean, well, I mean I had jobs just like everybody else. I used to build freeway bridges. You know, I was a pizza delivery guy. I mean, I had jobs, you know, electrician.
But, you know, but this was -- this was a job that wasn't really a job, you know, because we -- when this band first started, I was working. I think you guys were all working, doing something, too. I was an electrician at the time.
MORGAN: What were you all doing? What were you doing, Nikki?
SIXX: I was selling light bulbs.
MORGAN: You were building bridges, you're selling light bulbs. What were you doing?
LEE: I was painting houses.
MORGAN: Painting houses. Mick?
MARS: I was repairing motorcycles.
MORGAN: Amazing, isn't it?
MARS: Yes.
MORGAN: Amazing sort of sequence of events that brings you together to become this huge band.
He said about you, Mick, that you were the exact opposite of Vince, the guy who had wiped (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off his head his whole life, and was thankful just to have a moment in the sun, even if it ended the next day.
Now apart from the fact that you are looking like you've never the sun in about 40 years --
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: -- would you agree with the rest of his assessment?
MARS: Yes, of course. Yes. It's actually the whitest part.
(LAUGHTER)
MARS: Because I haven't. I got my studio tan on, you know? MORGAN: You're the --you're the best behaved of the band, right? You always have been. At least --
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(LAUGHTER)
MARS: We can put it this way. I'm the most -- I am the most secretive --
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: You're in the classier end of the bad boy market, that, the sort of the less demonstrative.
MARS: Well, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The darkest.
(LAUGHTER)
MARS: That's why I wear black.
SIXX: I went to Mick's house once, and I tried to open the door, and the door went -- he was, "Just come in." I go, "I can't," and he goes, "Hang on." And he had to move this box. And it was a rocket launcher in a box that he had delivered. So don't let him tell you that he's well-behaved. Yes, the well-behaved one.
MORGAN: Well, Nikki, Doug said about you that you were basically a nerd, which I found an extraordinary description of you, except when you had Jack Daniel's inside you, which was just about every night.
SIXX: That sounds about right.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Nikki, you've been nerdy, though, haven't you?
SIXX: I think -- I grew up in Idaho and I always looked up to these bands like Aerosmith and Kiss and the Stones. And I always wanted to be like them, and it was like my fantasy. But I really wasn't that. You know, I lived on a farm in Idaho. How was that going to ever happen?
And I came to Los Angeles and I started to kind of take on that persona and just started songwriting and copying, you know, my heroes. And just kind of once Motley Crue happened, it's like -- I felt like I was really myself. But definitely came from a nerd background, definitely.
MORGAN: Tommy, he described you as like a little kid, running around, looking for mother and father figures. He could be the sweetest, most big-hearted kid in the world, or the most spoiled temperamental brat.
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: I'd (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: How do you answer to that charge?
LEE: That's a pretty good overall description.
MORGAN: Yes?
LEE: Yes.
MORGAN: Temperamental? Fiery? Unpredictable?
LEE: You know, that, I don't know -- I don't know about that. I'll go with -- I'll go with -- disagree with me.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I interviewed Ozzie Osbourne recently, and I know you toured with him. I was trying to imagine on my way here who would have won that particular -- because presumably, when you tour with Ozzie, both at the peak of your powers, these are some heavy nights going down. I mean, who won? Let's cut to the quick here? Who was the bigger hellraiser?
SIXX: Well, I think Ozzie did win in the end. But it was a good fight, yes.
LEE: Yes, Sharon had come out, and she threatened to kick us off the tour, I remember. So we were some pretty bad influences.
SIXX: Yes.
MORGAN: Well, for Sharon to do that, you must have been despicable. What were -- what were you doing?
NEIL: Well, when she would leave, he would ride on our tour bus with us. He wouldn't even -- remember, he'd just be on the bus the whole time --
(LAUGHTER)
MARS: Or he'd come knocking on each one of our doors to empty out our mini-bars.
MORGAN: Ozzie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. MARS: Yes.
SIXX: You know back then -- I mean, Ozzie would show up at the bus, knock on the door, and you'd look out and there -- Ozzie was in a dress. And he would just come in and sit down, do a line of coke and have a drink and talk to you like there's nothing was wrong, and then leave. And then leave.
And we'd be like, Ozzie was in a dress? Like, you know, how do you top that?
MORGAN: I can't remember -- I think one or two of you recently described a kind of average day at the height of Motley Crue mania, when you were in the party phase, and it was just utterly compelling, every detail was compelling. I wanted to try and recreate this.
For viewers who just have never been on the dark side of rock 'n' roll excess, talk me through an average tour day at your peak. I don't just performance peak, I mean party peak. How would it go?
NEIL: It was just -- it was just one big day. You'd wake up at, you know, 1:00, 2:00 in the afternoon, and get a bottle of Jack Daniel's and --
MORGAN: First thing you do?
NEIL: First thing you do, yes. We were making -- we're making -- we had a -- like a -- we made tuna and the bowl still had tuna inside of it, and from -- it had been sitting there for like three days. And just grabbed the cereal, and then didn't have any milk, so use Jack Daniel's.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
NEIL: With your Cap'n Crunch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ridiculous, yes.
NEIL: Out of the tuna bowl.
LEE: Jacked'n Crunch.
MORGAN: And infamously, you used to actually intravenously inject the Jack Daniel's. Is this true?
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Well, come on, one of you.
SIXX: Dumb and dumber.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: We thought it was a good idea.
MORGAN: Was it a good idea? LEE: We thought it was.
SIXX: We thought it was a good idea. I went to sleep really quickly.
LEE: Yes.
MORGAN: Let me just do the obligatory, "Don't try this at home."
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, don't. Do not.
MORGAN: How many times did you do this?
SIXX: Actually, I think it only happened once.
LEE: It did happen once, and that's -- at that point, I -- that's when -- for me, personally, I went, OK, wait a second. We could have just easily drank this. I mean, this has gone way --
SIXX: There's really no reason --
MORGAN: No real need to inject it?
LEE: There's -- no, that's what we were like. What are we doing?
MORGAN: Did it taste any better coming through your veins?
LEE: It drips down the back of your throat.
MORGAN: This is without the pleasure of the sip.
SIXX: Yes. I think that -- I think that's the problem with this band, is we're always trying to top ourselves, right? So that was one of those moments, where we went -- that was just stupid.
LEE: That was stupid.
SIXX: That was stupid.
MORGAN: So, now, mid-afternoon, you've got the bottle of Jack Daniel's. Some of you have intravenously injected it, and you've got three-day-old tuna that you're eating -- you're drinking with Jack Daniel's in it, and cornflakes, whatever. Then what happens?
NEIL: Just at the gig, you know --
MORGAN: You head down to the stadium or wherever --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, head down and get some girls and start all over again.
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: I mean, we had a pretty -- a pretty organized way of getting girls, too.
MORGAN: Explain it to me.
SIXX: This is sort of the ringleader on this, and there was the sections, right, and you'd basically call out to your guy a section and a row. And then the guy --
NEIL: Like Bingo. G-4.
SIXX: G-4, right? And this guy would go out -- so while Vince was singing, he would give him a yes or a no. If he got near the fat girl, it would be no.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aww.
SIXX: And then he -- then the -- hey, I'm -- that was then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. That's terrible.
MORGAN: Well, this is fascist bingo, basically.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: And then there was a room.
MORGAN: Did women ever say no when they got the tap on the shoulder? Did you ever get rejected?
SIXX: The boyfriends would say no.
MORGAN: Right, understandably.
SIXX: Yes. So that made it difficult.
MORGAN: So now what, it's sort of 8:00, 9:00.
MARS: Here's the best thing.
MORGAN: Go.
MARS: I'm on stage. I drank straight vodka, right? So I have a glass of vodka this big, full, right? This guy is thirsty, he comes over to my place and drank it. He thought it was water.
(CROSSTALK)
NEIL: Well, he'd have a sign on it that said "Mars-Aid," and it was -- it was really -- it was a giant --
MARS: That was Gatorade mixed with vodka.
NEIL: It was a splash, I mean, just for color. LEE: A splash of Gatorade for color, yes.
MORGAN: What sort of drugs are knocking around there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of everything.
MORGAN: And it's...
SIXX: There was the bottle caps. Remember the bottle caps?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, yes --
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: After drinking the beers, we would collect the bottle caps, then we'd put a little powder in the bottle caps and put them all around the stage, so if you needed a boost because of too much Mars-Aid, you would just grab a bottle cap, and then you would flip the bottle cap into the crowd.
MORGAN: Of course. How could I not (INAUDIBLE) what was going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrible.
MORGAN: Now, the gig ends, you've got a two-hour -- two-hour show, on average?
NEIL: Yes, two hours.
MORGAN: Now what do you do? What happens back -- is it -- is it sort of heinous backstage, as I always imagined?
NEIL: Well, it was like the different -- we had the shower rooms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
NEIL: And --
MORGAN: Clarify?
NEIL: You know, we just -- it would just be -- it would just be, you know, girls and drug dealers and just alcohol --
MORGAN: And just wild excess. How many women are backstage?
NEIL: There was always enough. I mean, usually it started out like 30 or 40 girls and then weed them down to -- to what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MORGAN: Fifteen?
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: There would be about three or four each.
LEE: He'd take six.
MORGAN: You'd take six?
SIXX: Yes, he always -- he always took more. And, you know, I saw resentment towards the singer. He would always -- he'd be the first one to get cleaned up, and he would go in there and pick the cream.
LEE: Yes, he'd beat us --
SIXX: And then leave.
LEE: -- into the room.
SIXX: Yes.
LEE: And leave with some of the best ones. We were like, dude --
SIXX: You never played fair. You never played fair.
NEIL: Because you guys never showered.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: True, true.
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: What we were doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were we doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SIXX: Vince is smarter than us.
MORGAN: Does any part of you slightly regret the manner that you treated these ladies? Or did they not care?
MARS: Well, they didn't have far to walk home, right?
(LAUGHTER)
MARS: I've actually passed them out in the hallway with a $20 bill and go --
MORGAN: Didn't any of them feel used? Or was it more that this is the best night of their lives, you know, they -- SIXX: I think the '80s were the -- the '50s, and then you get the '60s, and then it was the '70s. We're topping that. And our intention was to top everything that we had seen before.
MORGAN: To be the most excessive band ever?
SIXX: And that's what the audience was in for the same thing. It was a wild experience. And it -- I think everybody knew what they were getting into.
LEE: People weren't worried about diseases or worried about -- I mean, if you were to wear a condom, you were wearing it to not get someone pregnant, not to --
SIXX: It was crazy --
(CROSSTALK)
NEIL: Remember when we had girlfriends come out, we would actually line them in the showers and we would have a doctor come and just give everybody a big shot of penicillin, boom, boom, boom. Just in case.
SIXX: It was -- the thing is, you would --
MORGAN: It was cautionary penicillin --
SIXX: You know that you can drink on this, and we would have our bottle of Jack. And that was the hard part.
MORGAN: Let's have a break so I can recover from the sheer exasperated jealousy I'm now experiencing towards the lives you've led. We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: I'm back with my special guests, Motley Crue.
Now, chaps, we had a very entertaining romp through the good old days there.
Do any of you still drink?
NEIL: I occasionally drink.
MORGAN: The rest of you, it's all over? No drugs anymore?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MORGAN: So you've cleaned up, basically?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I -- (CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: Isn't it sad, really?
MARS: It's a bit sad.
MORGAN: Do you feel sad or is it like one of those things that eventually, that's it?
SIXX: I mean for me, it just quit working and it just started to go the other way. It wasn't fun anymore. So once I got it out of my life, then things got better.
MORGAN: I mean you had the most hideous experience. You nearly died, didn't you?
SIXX: Yes.
MORGAN: You were almost dead for a couple of minutes --
SIXX: Yes.
MORGAN: -- after a heroin overdose.
SIXX: But here --
MORGAN: Tell me about that.
SIXX: -- heroin was like pills was like cocaine was like alcohol was like girls. It was just there, especially in Hollywood. It was everywhere. And you could pick it up and use it or not.
And we were kind of into seeing, you know, where -- when -- we wanted to experience everything, really, to be honest with you. And I have a very addictive personality and those two things don't go together good.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: I just -- I ended up strung out and -- and it ended up bad. And then I got away from it. And then I had to get away from alcohol.
And it's all turned out great. I mean all that stuff kind of makes you who you are today.
MORGAN: Yes, I mean there -- with you, I mean even after that experience you went -- you still carried on. But what was the moment for you when you finally kicked heroin, because it's a notoriously hard drug, you know, to get rid of?
SIXX: You know, I went to rehab. I left rehab. I went back and got on drugs. I -- I, you know, did some just cold turkey stuff and it would last a couple of weeks.
But it was really, God, it was almost 20 years -- 20 years ago or so I had a really bad overdose. I ended up in the hospital. Came out. Shot up again. Overdosed again.
And it was the next morning I woke up and the light -- the light just went on. And it was over.
I didn't ever -- I never picked it up again.
MORGAN: That's amazing.
SIXX: It was hard. I mean it was --
MORGAN: But when it happened --
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: -- it was hard to go through the withdrawal --
MORGAN: -- had to control it.
SIXX: -- but I knew in my head, I don't want this, because I love my band. You know, I didn't have a family then. So the band was the only family I had and I didn't want to throw the band away and the music away for that. It wasn't worth it.
MORGAN: This arthritis that you have -- how does that affect your life?
MARS: You know, actually, it's more of an inconvenience than anything else for me, because it's like, you know, standing up straight is -- is real tough for me, because -- just to make a long story short, when I'm on stage, this is the most -- worst part, walking into things.
MORGAN: Really?
MARS: Walking into microphones, walking into the -- to the drum riser, walking into like sets, things that I want to see on stage that move and do kind of things are like I can't see it. I can see about the first four or five rows of people.
And I don't think that they've clearly found an answer for what starts A.S. But they're -- they're getting close. I've -- I've read that they've found a lot more different genes that -- that work with the HLAB 27.
I sound like a doctor, huh?
MORGAN: Yes, you do.
MARS: Yes.
MORGAN: I'm not surprised...
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: -- because it's a chronic condition, isn't it?
MARS: Yes. Yes. And --
MORGAN: And do you all suffer from other weird side-effects of being rock stars? I mean, the -- the classic, I guess, is the ears. I mean you go to bed with ringing -- do you have ringing ears now?
Do you have the permanent thing with it or --
SIXX: Yes, right now.
MORGAN: Do you?
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: No. I mean we all -- I think we all have hearing damage, for sure.
LEE: Yes, absolutely.
SIXX: Mine worse on my left side than my right. It's just part of that I -- I have a lawsuit pending against Tommy Lee for his cymbal --
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: His right...
(CROSSTALK)
LEE: He makes as much noise as --
SIXX: His right cymbal is always in my ear because I'm on this side. Yes.
LEE: Chang, chang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chang, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: It's hard.
MORGAN: Any other side-effects? What are the other side-effects of being rockers? I mean, you all are actually --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just hurts.
MORGAN: -- reasonably healthy.
SIXX: You know what, just getting -- getting older is hard.
LEE: Yes.
SIXX: And -- and doing this gracefully is really important to us. You know, I just had to have one of my knees, the meniscus was torn. I had to have surgery on it and I have to have the other one next time, this hip replaced. I mean, we're -- we've been doing this a long time. We've been doing it hard for a long time.
And I've talked to a lot of cats that are in their late 50s, 60s and older and, you know, you've got to work hard at it. You've got to work really hard.
But, you know, the good news is that we're still here, we're doing it and we love what we're doing. So it's worth putting the work in.
MORGAN: Next, the tragic death and the darkest days of Vince Neil's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL: I've pretty much tried to kill myself, you know, every day with pills and alcohol and I would just disappear for months at a time, not tell anybody where I was at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Vince, you went through a sort of -- a cataclysmic period in your life in the early '90s.
You had this awful car accident. Razzle died in that. You went through a divorce in '93. And then this terrible thing with your daughter who was four years old who died of stomach cancer.
Collectively, when you look back at that period in your life, was that the moment for you? Did that change everything for you?
NEAL: Well, I mean, you know, as a father, you know, you want to be there to protect your children and -- and do whatever you can to keep them safe. And with something like, you know, with cancer, you're just really helpless, you know, and there's nothing you can do about it.
There's nothing -- it -- it -- you know, it was just, it was a really hard, hard time, you know, obviously, you know, really having to go -- you know, going to the hospital every day and seeing her still, you know, be in good spirits but, you know -- and you know she's not -- you know, not going to make it.
And --
MORGAN: And you knew that, did you?
NEAL: Yes. Well, the doctors really, from the beginning they said it was -- you know, it was -- it was a bit dodgy whether she would ever survive this. She had 12 operations or something like that. And we had some hope at some point, but it just, it -- it just didn't work out.
And -- and after she passed away, it took me a long time to -- to -- to deal with it. I pretty much tried to kill myself, you know, every day with pills and alcohol. And I would just disappear for months at a time, not tell anybody where I -- where I was at, and in and out of rehabs. And you know, then I -- I finally just pulled it together and I kind of told myself that I had to do something in her name to keep her name alive and her memory alive. And then so I started the foundation and --
MORGAN: Tell me about the foundation.
NEAL: Well, it's called the Skylar Neil Foundation and -- and we raise money for anybody who really needs it, you know, children's hospitals or like even these things -- we make these things called OwieBowWowies. They're these little dogs where -- where the -- the kids can like put bandages on them and take their temperature and, you know, just make them feel a bit better.
So it's -- it's nice to be able to -- to sit down at the end of the year and -- and write checks to people that -- that really need it.
And it keeps her -- you know, it really keeps her memory alive.
MORGAN: If people want to donate money, how do they do that?
NEAL: SkylarNeil.org.
MORGAN: As simple as that?
NEAL: That's it. Yes.
MORGAN: Tommy, you've got two children, two boys?
TOMMY LEE, MOTLEY CRUE: Yes.
MORGAN: How old are they now?
LEE: Fifteen and almost 14.
MORGAN: What's it like for them, having you as a dad?
And what's it like for you being a dad with two young teenage sons?
LEE: Well, it's -- it's awesome.
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: They -- it's amazing, man. You know, they're at the age now where it's getting really fun. You know, they like to come out on tour, which is interesting.
MORGAN: Yes.
Now, how do you deal with that?
LEE: Well, it's interesting because, you know, when I've got a -- when they want to stay longer and they're like, dad, would you ask mom if we can stay longer?
And they want to stay longer. OK. You know, so like they -- they're -- they're experiencing this part of, you know, of -- of my life. And it's so fun bringing them around to -- to see what -- what it is that their dad is always gone doing, you know.
And so they get it and they want to stay. It's like a big -- it's like the ultimate fun, you know, summer camp to them, you know. So it's pretty --..
MORGAN: When they get to like 19, 20 and they want to start partying...
LEE: Oh, yes.
MORGAN: How do you think -- how are you going to deal with that?
LEE: Yes.
MORGAN: It's a question we've all got...
(CROSSTALK)
LEE: Oh, yes...
MORGAN: -- how do you deal with --
LEE: Yes, right, dad. Sure.
MORGAN: How do you deal with it, in terms of advice you give to your offspring?
SIXX: I've done...
MORGAN: You've got four kids, right, don't you?
SIXX: Yes.
MORGAN: Have you thought about this?
And have you gotten where you've had to do that?
SIXX: I have a 20 -year-old, I have a 17 -year-old, a 16 -year- old and a 10 -year-old. So the -- the age gap is pretty wide.
MORGAN: So they're watching this and they've watched their dads. And they're all like bloody hell.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: And they'll be like, I want a bit of the action.
Then what do you say?
SIXX: You know, I just try to share with them my experience. And, you know, in the end, I tell them, you know, you're going to do what you're going to -- what you're going to do. You're going to make your decisions. But at least you can see at least from a few stories that I've been involved with, how it does or doesn't turn out good. And it --
MORGAN: If your daughter comes back with somebody resembling one of your lot when you were 20 --
SIXX: Kill him.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Simple as that.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: No mucking around.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: Out the back door.
LEE: I don't -- I don't have a daughter, but I've rehearsed a speech for that. It would be like, you know, the guy comes to the door and you're sitting there and you go listen, buddy, anything you do to my daughter, I'm going to do to you.
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: Ouch.
MORGAN: You know, I've got --
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: -- I've got three sons...I've got three sons. But this last week, my wife gave birth to a -- a girl for the first time.
LEE: Yes.
MORGAN: And I was thinking exactly -- I felt murderous toward her first boyfriend already. She was a day old. I could feel --
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: I could feel this murderous thing rising inside of me.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN: Coming up, Motley Crue's women and the surprising answer to this question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CILP)
MORGAN: If I can strand you on a desert island tomorrow, who is the woman you'd take?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN: Let's -- let's talk about women for a moment, because I can just imagine between -- have you ever worked out between you what the tally is likely to be?
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: Worked out what?
MORGAN: The collective tally in the last 30 years?
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: The collective tally.
MORGAN: Want to -- want to -- want to try a number out there?
LEE: Geez.
MORGAN: Where are we headed?
SIXX: I'm not -- I'm not touching this one.
MORGAN: You're very shy, aren't we?
Are you?
(LAUGHTER)
NEAL: Crickets.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Why is -- why have you just gone all shy on me?
I would imagine you'd be leaping up that ladder, wanting to --
SIXX: I don't think we've ever even really talked about it, have we?
LEE: No. Never.
SIXX: I know like Gene Simmons had said something like 20,000 women.
NEAL: I just think if you have to like get a number and tell somebody --
SIXX: Maybe you're faking it.
NEAL: -- it's just kind of cheesy.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the big hat and the cattle guy, the guy that talks about how much money he has all the time and really doesn't have a lot of money.
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't really have to tell you.
MORGAN: No, I mean, the last thing you've done in this interview is do any boasting about the women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It depends on the quality of the woman, as well.
MORGAN: Well, I was going to come to that.
Who, of all the women -- let's just -- let's cut to the quick here. If I could strand you on a desert island tomorrow, who's the woman you'd take?
Nikki, I'll start with you. Because you were known at one stage to be using, I think, "Playboy" as a -- as a dating agency.
SIXX: Yes, that was a bad time for me.
MORGAN: Yes.
SIXX: Yes. That and heroin don't go together well at all.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: Like Vince said, 50 percent twice is how much?
NEAL: Yes.
Zero.
MORGAN: Desert island for the rest of your life.
Who's the woman?
SIXX: You know, I'm really happy in a relationship right now. And it's the first time I -- I think I've been in a relationship with someone that's really healthy and balanced. And it's -- it's great for me as a creative guy. I know it's not very exciting, but I think it's about time.
MORGAN: It would be her?
SIXX: Yes, it would be her.
MORGAN: The current lady in your life?
SIXX: Absolutely. Yes.
MORGAN: Tommy?
LEE: The same. I've got a girl that I've been seeing for over two years.
Just perfect. We -- we're perfect together, man. It's -- I -- she's a keeper. It's one of those.
MORGAN: Mick?
MARS: The same. A keeper.
MORGAN: This is actually a terrible question.
MARS: Yes.
LEE: Well, Vince, it's up to you, bud. Save this interview.
MORGAN: The whole reputation of Motley Crue --
(CROSS TALK)
MORGAN: There was a stripper in Denver. It's that woman.
NEAL: No. The entire Victoria's Secret catalog.
LEE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
NEAL: And my girl.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN: Back with lashings more sex, drugs and rock n' roll in a moment. And later, a special announcement from Motley Crue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN: You seem much more settled, I guess, not that I've ever met any of you before, but just from reputation. It seems like you've been through a crazy three decades of mayhem. You've washed up miraculously alive and happy with good women and you're clean and life is very different now.
NEAL: Yes. Life is good. It really is. You know, we're heavy a good time and -- and, you know, to still be relevant, you know, after all this year -- all these years and -- and to go out there and play to new fans, it's -- it's amazing.
You know, and even -- even when Motley doesn't tour, I stay out on the road, because I love performing that much. You know, I have a -- you know a side band. We just go out and play. I'm playing tonight.
MORGAN: Are you?
NEAL: Yes.
MORGAN: In LA?
NEAL: No, in Vegas.
MORGAN: In Vegas?
NEAL: Yes.
MORGAN: Well, we'll come to Vegas. We've got a big announcement coming after the break about Vegas, which I'm very excited about and your fans certainly will be.
Do you have any regrets about all the mayhem?
Any regrets?
NEAL: I think you just learn by your mistakes, you know, and don't really regret them. Just whatever you did that you would regret, you just -- you've learned from it.
SIXX: Also, I don't think I could do it again.
If you said, OK, let's start over, let's do it -- let's do everything we did, I -- I don't think it'd have that much juice in me.
(CROSS TALK)
NEAL: I'd go back to building bridges.
SIXX: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: I don't -- I don't know how the hell we did it and how the hell we survived. But the -- the good news is we're -- we're still here, like Vince said, and we're still doing it and --
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: -- is you're still -- you're -- you're together. You've had periods when one of you has gone off and whatever...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
MORGAN: -- but you come back together. And you seem -- I've interviewed a lot of rock bands and there's often tension in the ranks. You can feel it, you know. And the next thing, they split up and that's it. And most bands eventually go their separate ways and often never speak to each other again. How have you managed to keep this kind of relationship with each other, which seems very good?
NEAL: I think we've, you know, we've known each other longer than anybody else besides our parents and -- and -- and brothers and sisters.
You know, because I mean me and Tommy went to high school together. We've been -- we've known each other for 40 years, you know.
(CROSS TALK)
SIXX: The reality is and the truth is, you know, as you -- you get to a certain age, you start to look at where you're at in your life. And you know, we've had the conversation about, you know, when -- when is it time to stop?
You know, and we've -- we've had that conversation, a serious conversation like four brothers, four best friends and said when do we -- we stop?
And I believe that, you know, unanimous decision is when -- when we're done, when we think that we're -- we're done, we're not going to be like I'm going to leave or Tommy is going to quit and we're going to -- we're going to just call it a day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MORGAN: But you'll know that moment?
SIXX: We're going to know. We won't -- trust me, we want to go out on top. We don't want to hobble into the sunset. That's not very...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- that's not a good look.
SIXX: That's not a good look.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: What was the -- what was the greatest night of them all, the one -- if you could have a party tonight, you'd have again, what was the one?
NEAL: Wow, man. A lot of them ,dude.
MORGAN: Come on, I can give you one party again. You can lay it on tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're all the same.
(CROSS TALK)
MORGAN: There must be one that you still occasionally go, God, do you remember Denver, or whatever it is. : Denver's actually not a bad
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LEE: That's a really good guess actually. .
MORGAN: I could have said any city in the world, couldn't I?
LEE: I remember that. Didn't we get snowed in there like for days when we there? And we were right across the street from --
SIXX: From a strip club, Captain Willies.
We (INAUDIBLE) the hotel of how much alcohol they had. The hotel ran out of alcohol. That's how much we were drinking.
LEE: Yes, Denver would be a good --
MORGAN: Well, I managed -- I got lucky there, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got lucky, yes.
Thank you.
MORGAN: I suspect it wasn't a coincidence. There are lot of cities I think you would have reacted like that. Let's take a last break.
When we come back, I want to reveal this world exclusive to everybody. Motley Crue have a big announcement to make.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Back with my special guest, Motley Crue.
And, guys, you have a massive announcement to make. And this is the greatest fusions of brands I have ever heard in my life. Motley Crue are taking residency at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SIXX: Viva Las Vegas.
MORGAN: I cannot imagine a better -- a better name for an event than you lot in Sin City at the Hard Rock in the place called The Joint.
NEAL: The Joint. Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
NEAL: The Joint is hopping.
MORGAN: Tell me about this.
You've never done this before, right?
NEAL: No, no.
We're actually the -- the first Hard Rock band to ever have a residency. There's been, you know, like bands like -- like Santana and, you know, and Elton John and these -- these kind of acts. But for us, you know, because we'll -- you know, Motley Crue is built about -- you know, we're all about theater and about, you know, over the top stage show.
MORGAN: Well, it's so Vegas, isn't it?
NEAL: So it's -- it's a perfect fit for us.
So we're really, really excited.
MORGAN: When is it?
When -- when -- when is it happening?
SIXX: It's starting on February 3rd and we're going to be...
MORGAN: For three weeks.
SIXX: For three weeks.
MORGAN: How do you get tickets?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We go to -- we, you, everybody --
MORGAN: I want a ticket. I'm assuming you're going to comp me some.
(CROSSTALK)
SIXX: We'll comp you.
You go to Motley.com and they're going to go on sale now. And we're really excited about it, because like Vincent is saying, we've always been about over the top shows, but we have to take those shows and put them in tour buses and -- and -- and take it around the country. And -- and it's sometimes limiting how much you can do, because you have to move.
So when you're in one place, all of a sudden the idea of the band being able to be in the crowd or the crowd being able to be on the stage and --
MORGAN: Are you -- are you planning the mother of all shows?
SIXX: Yes.
NEAL: Oh, yes. It's amazing.
MORGAN: Is this going to be the biggest extravaganza?
SIXX: Yes.
LEE: You have to understand, that's dangerous for guys like us. We're like wait a minute, we -- it doesn't have to move anywhere?
(LAUGHTER)
NEAL: Yes.
LEE: Really?
So, yes, we're -- we're putting it together now.
NEAL: We're having a lot of fun with the creative part right now.
MORGAN: Well, very exciting.
What about records?
All the fans will be wondering. Another album on the way?
SIXX: You know, I think that we're getting to that place where -- I mean, I know I've been writing. I know Mick has been writing, Tommy. We're -- we're going to start throwing ideas together pretty soon. You know, in the old days, it was album, tour, recover from a hangover, album, tour...
(LAUGHTER)
SIXX: -- you know, and -- and that really was our thing. And it was like we were like on a two year cycle, basically.
NEAL: Yes.
SIXX: And you know, things have changed so much, where as we've been around longer, we're looking at different ways to get music to people. So whether it's through social media and Facebook and Twitter and giving away stuff for free or not giving away stuff for free, tying it in with tours, there are so many different ways of doing it than going in a studio, cutting 10 songs and just releasing those 10 songs.
And you go to iTunes, people just pick -- cherry pick anyway. So we're always trying to find vehicles for that and ways to do stuff that's exciting.
MORGAN: Let me ask you...
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I want to ask you individually here, how do you all want to be remembered?
Because there are so many ways you could be remembered as the Motley Crue rock legend.
I'll start with you Vince.
How do you -- how do you want to be remembered?
If you could write your own epitaph?
NEAL: Well, I mean I -- I think, you know, with -- with this band, you know, it's just kind of like, you know, we did it our way. You know, that's -- that was really, really it, you know.
MORGAN: That is certainly true.
NEAL: Yes.
MORGAN: Mick?
MARS: The palest guy in rock and roll.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: That is true.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Tommy?
LEE: Oh, God, I don't know. Probably, you know, one of the -- the -- I don't know, maybe one of the most, you know, insane drummers of all time.
MORGAN: That is true. Three entirely true statements.
SIXX: I'd like to be remembered for my hair.
MORGAN: That is also true. Gentlemen, it's been a great pleasure.
(CROSS TALK)
MORGAN: I can't wait to see it. It's been fantastic. You guys are what rock 'n roll is really all about. And I feel like I've learned so much tonight. I really have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel dirty?
(CROSS TALK)
MORGAN: The night's closing in. Shall we one more for the road?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's do it.
MORGAN: OK. That's Motley Crue. And that's all for us tonight. And now "AC 360," which will be a lot tamer than this. (LAUGHTER)
