The 1980s were definitely a different time, and Nikki Sixx acknowledges that in a new interview.
Speaking with Classic Rock magazine, Sixx says of the sexist accusations against the Crue at their ’80s peak, “In today’s environment, most probably. As was everybody. In the seventies, when I grew up, it was just the messaging that came through, and you were emulating your heroes.”
He added, “When someone is talking about guns and sex and drugs, you’re like, ‘This is fucking dangerous, man. This is not mom and dad’s music.’ So it was a different time. You can’t rewrite history, man.”
It’s not the first time Sixx spoke publically about his or the Crue’s behavior, especially following the 2019 Netflix film adaption of the band’s infamous memoir The Dirt. Leading up to the film’s release, many revisited the book, which was co-authored by Neil Strauss. A story from the book that received a lot of attention involved Sixx having sex with a woman in a closet but then he brings Tommy Lee into said closet to take his place without the woman’s knowledge.
When Rolling Stone initially questioned Sixx about the incident, he said, “There was a little bit of embellishment here and there with [author] Neil Strauss.”
Sixx then issued a statement to the publication saying that during the interview process for The Dirt in 2000, he was in “a really low point in my life. I had lost my sobriety and was using drugs and alcohol to deal with a disintegrating relationship which I still to this day regret how I handled…I honestly don’t recall a lot of the interviews with Neil.”
Sixx went on to say he wishes he would’ve done his interviews after he entered rehab in 2001 and was sober. He also doesn’t recall telling that story and has “no clue why it’s in there other than I was outta my head and it’s possibly greatly embellished or [I] made it up. Those words were irresponsible on my part. I am sorry.”
He closed the statement with, “We own up to all our behavior that hurt our selves, our families, friends and any innocents around us.”
As previously reported, Sixx is releasing a new book on October 19 titled The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx. The book will shine a light on the lesser-known part of the bassist’s life before all of the wild excess and legendary stories many fans have come to know.
The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx is available for pre-order at HachetteBookGroup.com.