Nikki Sixx

Nikki Sixx

Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Ferranna, Jr. December 11 , 1958 in San Jose, California) is the bassist for heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He has also played bass for glam metal band London, experimental band 58, and the heavy metal band Brides of Destruction.

Early life

Sixx was born Franklin Carlton Feranna on December 11, 1958 in San Jose, California. He was raised by his single mother, Deana Haight, and her abusive boyfriend, after his father abandoned the family. When he was six, he and his mother moved to Mexico for a short time, after which they moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, with his grandparents. The family moved several more times, to El Paso, Texas, then to Anthony, New Mexico, back to El Paso and then returned to Twin Falls.

While living in Idaho, Sixx became a teenage vandal, breaking into neighbors' homes, shoplifting and being expelled from school for selling drugs . His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. He lived there for a short time, and learned how to play the bass guitar after buying his first instrument with money made from selling a guitar he stole from a music store. At the age of 17, he moved to Los Angeles on his own; he got jobs at a liquor store and manufacturing plant and auditioned to play in a band called Sister with Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. before joining London, a local glam pop outfit whose major claim to fame to that point was that its singer, Nigel Benjamin, had sung with a late version of Mott the Hoople. Nikki soon left the band, convinced that his ideas for world domination would never come to fruition with Dane Rage and Lizzie Grey as his partners in crime. Soon after leaving London, Nikki formed Motley Crue with Tommy Lee and Mick Mars.

Mötley Crüe

By 1981, Sixx had developed a plan to create the ultimate "theatrical" band for the new decade. He found guitarist Mick Mars, drummer Tommy Lee, and singer Vince Neil to share in this vision. The band Mötley Crüe rose quickly in the musical environment of L.A.'s Sunset Strip, although at first no label would sign them due to their erratic stage performances. So on their own label they recorded "Too Fast For Love" their debut record. Released in November 1981 on the band's Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra they re-released the "Too Fast For Love". The album was re-released on a deal cut by the band, to save the album from being dropped by the new CEO of Elektra. Part of the deal, was that the album have a less dirty sound to it. Too Fast For Love was released successfully with Elektra after the deal. The band then went on to record and release Shout At The Devil, rising the band to national fame.

Like his bandmates, Sixx took advantage of the excess that rock n' roll allowed, surpassing the attempts of his bandmates by binging on alcohol, cocaine, and most notably, heroin. Sixx has often stated that he would use his body as a human chemistry set, mixing excessive amounts of drugs on a regular basis to search for a new "high". On at least one occasion on the night of December 23, 1987 Sixx was declared dead after an overdose, only to be revived by the paramedics with two adrenaline shots to the heart. This incident was the inspiration for the song Kickstart my Heart. On an earlier trip to London, Sixx overdosed at a dealer's house and, while he wasn't declared dead, he was put into a trash bin by the dealer after being beaten with a baseball bat.The dealer beat the convulsing Sixx, in an attempt to try and stop Sixx's body from convulsing. This incident led to the inspiration behind the lyric "Valentine's in London, found me in the trash" from the song Dancing on Glass.

Soon after his overdose, he and his bandmates sought sobriety through rehab. It was then that the band would produce their most successful record, Dr. Feelgood, in 1989 with producer Bob Rock. The album would stay on the charts for 109 weeks after its release. When Motley Crue reformed at the end of 2004, Sixx declared himself sober. He is known for being one of the most excessive rockstars to have survived, and as such enjoys a legendary status amongst rock critics. Whilst Motley Crue have received a large amount of criticism from the press due to their excesses, Sixx is often referenced in the same sentence as other legendary "live fast" rockers, such as Lemmy Kilmister and Ozzy Osbourne.

Being the central creative influence of the band for much of the 1980s, Nikki subsequently wrote most, if not all of the Crue's material. This is particularly true for the earlier period of the band's career, as Tommy Lee and Mick Mars were still developing as song writers. Nikki has penned such classic tracks as 'Livewire', 'Home Sweet Home', 'Girls, Girls, Girls', 'Kickstart My Heart', and 'Dr. Feelgood'. His songs are known for their distinct heavy and hard sound largely resulting from Nikki and Mick's instruments being tuned 'down' and their fast (almost punk) tempo. The first album with John Corabi marked a move away from their classic 80s sound to a more alternative and experimental style reminiscent of Alice In Chains and 'alt rock' movement of the early 90s. With a change in decade came a change in the songwriting duties for the band, with all four members contributing to the material on the albums, many believe this to be the reason for the change in band's sound.

Present day

Nikki has recently divorced from actress and Playboy Playmate Donna D'Errico on April 27, 2006. She filed for irreconcilable differences. Between the two of them, they had a child together; Frankie Jean. Before their marriage in 1994, Nikki had 3 children with Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; Gunner, Decker, and Storm. From her previous marriage, Donna has a son, Rhyan.

Nikki was in a band called Brides of Destruction with Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. Now, Mötley Crüe have just finished their reunion tour, featuring the original line-up, with Nikki Sixx (bass), Tommy Lee (drums), Vince Neil (vocals) and Mick Mars (guitar). They are going into the studio in June/July to record some new material. A 2007 target has been set for the album. Mötley Crüe has also just recently announced a fall 2006 co-headlining tour with Aerosmith.

Pop Culture Trivia

• Launched his own line of clothing with pictures of his tattoos on the clothes.
• Is Mötley Crüe's main songwriter.
• Sometimes has the words 'Fuck' and 'Fucker' written on some of his on-stage clothing.
• Has the words 'SIXX' and the number '1958' tattooed on his knuckles.
• An incident on the same tour as above involved Ozzy and possibly Nikki snorting a trail of ants through a straw like cocaine as reported in The Dirt.
• Sixx has died once in 1987 (Girls, Girls, Girls), due to a heroin overdose. He was revived back to life by the paramedics with two epinephrine needles to the chest. This is how the song "Kickstart My Heart" came about on the Dr. Feelgood album in 1989.
• Nikki is currently in the process of getting a divorce from his wife Donna. This was reported in a May 2006 episode of the VH1 show "Celebrity Eye Candy" during a segment mourning the week's celebrity breakups.
• Nikki is the reason that Brides of Destruction turned down a tour to open for Kiss and Poison. His reasoning was that he didn't want the Brides to be involved with anything Poison was doing, since he believes Poison ripped off real glam metal turning it into pop music. Ironically, Vince Neil has toured with his solo band as an opener for Poison.
• Before Changing his name to Nikki Sixx, he was actually going to be called Nikki Nine but thought it was too punk rock. The Name Nikki Sixx actually comes from a man name Nikki Syxx who played in a band that one of Nikki's friends was in. According to Sixx the last time he saw the man he was a reverend on TV calling Nikki Sixx 'the devil'.

External links

• Nikki Sixx official site
• Mötley Crüe official site
• Motley Crue Hitsquad fansite
• Interview about Nikki Sixx early days
• Nikki Sixx at IMDb