Alaska News

Metal icons Mötley Crüe make Anchorage stop on final tour

In late January 2014, Mötley Crüe announced they would embark on a retirement tour -- a globe-trotting swan song that would conclude with the group's last-ever live show in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve 2015.

Despite each member signing an agreement vowing to never again perform under the Crüe's debaucherous flag, the prevailing reaction was disbelief.

After all, this is the band that personified excess, pushing everything to its farthest conceivable limit -- and washing it down with another shot. Whether it's their well-documented sexual exploits, booze-fueled escapades or colossal drug habits, there's been no quit in the Crüe.

"We knew there would be skeptics, saying 'This is bullshit. These guys will be back in five years,'" Crüe drummer Tommy Lee said.

But Lee, bassist Nikki Sixx, guitarist Mick Mars and vocalist Vince Neil insist that at the end of the year, Mötley Crüe is quitting cold turkey.

So now what?

"Like any good addict, you move on to the next drug, or you get high on different thrills," Lee said. "They come in different shapes and sizes ... We can't go back on our word."

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The band's "All Bad Things Must Come to an End" tour is making a two-night stop in Anchorage, with performances Thursday and Friday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

While Mötley Crüe gained infamy for its devil-may-care persona, it's hard to ignore what the band has achieved since being formed in 1981, selling 100 million albums worldwide and producing seven platinum records.

"It's the craziest double-edged sword I've ever been a part of," Lee said. "It's amazing what we've accomplished over 35 years. It's going to be sad when it all ends."

Lee and Sixx founded the band in Los Angeles in 1981 and quickly added Mars on guitar. Lee knew Neil from playing in garage bands during high school and he was later added to round out the lineup.

The group started to develop its metal rock sound around Mars' searing guitar, Neil's urgent wail and the intense drive of the Sixx/Lee rhythm section.

"Too Fast For Love," the group's debut album, wasn't a huge commercial success, but got the band signed to Elektra Records.

"Shout at the Devil," released in 1983, marked the band's coming-out party. The cover art featured the glammed-out band members in makeup, and the album's name raised the ire of religious conservatives, some of whom claimed it was inspiring Satan worship.

Lee isn't sure how Mötley Crüe would fare if it were just starting out now.

"It's really such a crazy different time," he said. "I know one thing. I see how hard it is just getting exposure these days for a new band coming up. I don't know if that would pertain to us. We found a way to go against the grain and people dug that. (It seems like you have to) be really original and something that either scares the shit out of people or enlightens them."

Although the band's dalliances with drugs and alcohol were romanticized in both song and video, at times those habits have been deadly.

In 1984, Neil was behind the wheel during a fatal car accident that killed his passenger, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley. Neil was charged with driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to 30 days in jail. In 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was declared dead on the way to the hospital, only to be revived by, as the legend goes, an EMT who was a fan of the band.

The incident spawned a Crüe hit -- "Kickstart my Heart," which helped vault the album "Dr. Feelgood" to the top of the Billboard Top 200 chart in 1989.

"I pinch myself a lot," Lee said. "We've all had near-death experiences or some close calls in a lot of ways. I'm blown away we're still here. It doesn't make sense."

Although there have been disputes within the band, some aired in the various memoirs and books written by band members, Lee compared them to minor squabbles within a family.

"We've been doing this too long and have been friends for too long," Lee said. "Every once in a while, like good brothers, we fight."

Lee and Sixx live near each other in Southern California, and even with Mars and Neil living elsewhere, he expects to cross paths with his bandmates on a semi-regular basis once the retirement tour concludes.

"I'm sure we'll all see each other," Lee said. "It won't be like it's the last show, 'F--- you guys, I've had enough.' "

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Musically, the members of the Crüe will carry on as well. Lee said Mars is working a blues project and Sixx is still active with his side project, Sixx:A.M.

"I think our fans will stick with us through our individual projects," Lee said. "It's all fun making records and touring, but the real deal is getting in front of 15,000 or 20,000 people. That's what I live for. I'll miss some of that for sure. Hopefully that won't go away."

For his part, Lee has already gotten a jump-start on his post-Crüe career, drumming on recordings for Courtney Love as well as the most recent Smashing Pumpkins album, "Monuments to an Elegy," released late last year.

"I'll continue to make music until I physically can't and then I'll produce music," Lee said.

Playing with a little extra urgency since the band is scheduled to be permanently mothballed at year's end, Lee said the final batch of live shows has showcased vintage Mötley? Crüe, at least on the stage.

"Some things never change," he said. "When the house lights go out, it's f------ on. As the years go on, you get a little smarter about the road. You're partying like a f------ mad man. No human being has superpowers like that. We're a little smarter about that. But when the house lights go out, I see red and go until the show is pretty much over."

Mötley Crüe

When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday

Where: Alaska Airlines Center

Tickets: $80, $100, $152, $183 at alaskaairlinescenter.com

Chris Bieri

Chris Bieri is the sports and entertainment editor at the Anchorage Daily News.

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