Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx Calls Singer Vince Neil ‘Tonally Incorrect’ — But In A Good Way
After some awkward Vince Neil performances, Nikki Stixx tells us EXCLUSIVELY why his Motley Crue bandmate has a ‘powerful’ albeit ‘incorrect’ voice and why postponing ‘The Stadium Tour’ was the ‘right decision.’
Though Mötley Crüe announced in May that they were postponing their already delayed “Stadium Tour” to 2022, the hair metal icons still played a handful of shows over the summer. Sadly, singer Vince Neil has audibly struggled during these performances, which earned some harsh criticism from the metal community. Despite all that, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx had nothing but love for his bandmate while speaking to HollywoodLife at Screamfest® LA’s black carpet North American premiere of The Retaliators. He even doubled-down on recent comments where he likened Vince to Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. “They [Vince and Robert] have these really unique and tonally incorrect voices that when you apply a melody line or a lyric to them, it can be really powerful,” says Nikki.
Vince’s voice, according to The Heroin Diaries author, reminds him of “some of the early Zeppelin stuff,” though Nikki did note that he thought Robert Plant “is a more bluesy singer.” The comments echo those that Nikki said during a chat with Yahoo Entertainment. “With Motley Crue, Vince has this amazing, unique voice — sometimes like Robert Plant, Perry Farrell,” said Nikki (h/t Loudwire). “They have these interesting voices that are… they’re not pitchy, they’re just raw and just kind of on top.”
Nikki also reflected on the decision to postpone The Stadium Tour – which features Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – to 2022. The tour was initially slated for 2020, but it was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. In May, Mötley Crüe announced they were rescheduling the tour back to 2022 because it was “the only way to ensure that we can play ALL of the dates for ALL of you who have purchased tickets.”
“We made the right decision of not touring this year because there is no such thing as COVID insurance,” Nikki tells HollywoodLife, “and that would be putting a lot of people at risk and a lot of people in danger of not making any money. That’s why we are out there to help people on both sides. We are going to go out there next year. There’s going to be enough protection in place and enough rules in place. More people will be vaccinated, which will make it a safer place.”
Nikki also shared how it was “fun” to write the end credits theme for The Retaliators. “Allen Kovac called up and told me what he was doing,” says Sixx. “He sent me a little clip and breakdown of what he was doing. He sent me a little breakdown of the script. Me and James Michael, the singer in Sixx:A.M., put the song together. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad they liked it.”
Fans will also get a second helping of Sixx when his new memoir arrives on Oct. 19. “It’s called The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx. It’s about my first 21 years and how music shaped me, the 70s, things I’ve learned, and songwriting. It really helps explain what happened later on in my career.”