Motley Crue

Mötley Crüe blew out of Hollywood in 1981, when bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee went looking for trouble and found guitarist Mick Mars and singer Vince Neil almost at once. Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil were straight hard rock and heavy metal, all leather and snarl and "Looks That Kill", and then Theatre of Pain in 1985 reached for the hairspray and led the first charge of glam metal, with "Smokin in the Boys Room" and the lighter-waving ballad "Home Sweet Home".

The reputation came as a package: hedonism on an industrial scale, a wild look that flirted with androgyny, and stage shows with flame-throwing guitars, a drum kit that rode like a roller coaster and Sixx himself set on fire. Girls, Girls, Girls kept the party rolling, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989, with "Kickstart My Heart" and "Without You", became their only studio album to top the Billboard 200.

Then the revolving door started spinning. John Corabi sang in Neil's place from 1992 to 1996, and when Lee walked out in 1999 Randy Castillo held down the drums until Lee came back in 2004. What was billed as the final show came on New Year's Eve 2015, but they were back in 2018, cut 4 new songs for The Dirt, the Netflix film of their best-selling autobiography, and in 2022 Mars retired from touring and John 5 took his place. Sixx is the one member who never left, and the band has sold more than 100 million records along the way.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.