Tommy Lee: Motley Crue Bandmates ‘Never Even Said Goodbye’ After Final Show
With Motley Crue's farewell tour in the rearview mirror, the members of the band are now focusing on other projects. Rolling Stone caught up with drummer Tommy Lee for an "exit interview," ahead of the concert film that is documenting their New Year's Eve farewell gig.
When it came to the band's final show last year, Lee revealed that there wasn't a sense of togetherness even though it was a momentous occasion. "It's kind of strange, man. We're a f--king weird band. Even stranger, after the final night, we had a big party backstage on New Year's Eve, and I never saw the other guys. We never even said 'goodbye,'" said Lee. "F--king strange as hell, dude. I mean, what the f--k?" (Update: See Sixx's response to this particular comment below.)
As to why they didn't say their goodbyes, Lee says, "I really don't know. I mean, if you're getting divorced, you still give your ex a hug, or flip her off or something. You either get a kiss or a slap, or ... something. Give me a sign! Let me know you're alive."
While he is in regular contact with guitarist Mick Mars, Lee reveals he hasn't spoken with vocalist Vince Neil or bassist Nikki Sixx since their final show. "I think f--king Nikki unfollowed me on f--king Twitter, like, the next day," he says. "I was like, 'Wow. OK, dude.'"
Lee also addressed the talk that things had grown creatively stale with the band, explaining, "The Saints of Los Angeles record [in 2008] was the last time we were creative together, but not really creative together. Everybody did their part separately. It was just a really strange process and I was like, 'This is not really how it works.'"
Lee continues, "The record came out OK, but I don't know. That's when I started realizing we'd kind of hit the wall. You need to have three other very open-minded people to continue that process and explore and take chances and really try to make something new, and that's just not happening there."
Even though things were rocky at times, when he looks back on Motley Crue's career, Lee is satisfied. "I don't have ill feelings at all. I'm saying this with a smile on my face. I'm just happy to be part of something that was so impactful on so many people's lives musically and lifestyle-wise. That's pretty f--king insane, and I'm really happy that we decided to end it on a high note and not really drive this thing into the ground like so many of our other musical peers have. It's just really cool and quite an honor to kind of bow out when it's still larger-than-life. It could have gone a different route."
Lee had planned to take a year off, but says he's already writing songs and working on remixes for other artists. As for Motley Crue's final show, fans will be able to relive it when Motley Crue: The End concert movie is screened in theaters June 14.
Update: Nikki Sixx has responded to Tommy Lee's comments in the Rolling Stone interview with the following Tweet:
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