THE BEAST

Nikki Sixx says that MÖTLEY CRÜE was told by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame that the band will never be inducted into the institution.

The bassist made the comment as part of a new interview with U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine in which he discussed the newly released CRÜE biopic "The Dirt" .

Asked if fans will ever get to see MÖTLEY CRÜE play live again, Sixx said: "I was actually doing an interview with Tommy [ Lee , drums] a couple of weeks ago, and we were asked if we would ever play together again. And Tommy said, 'I don't know. Maybe if we got into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame or something, we could dust off a couple of our old classics.' I was, like, 'Really?' And he said, 'Why not?' But we don't have any plans because we were told by the Hall Of Fame that we would never get in, because of how we've acted, so that's kind of it."

Nikki went on to say that he believes MÖTLEY CRÜE 's music has been overshadowed by the band's extracurricular activities. "One hundred percent," he said. "One thing that we all agreed on early on was that we would be very honest about our lives. So we'd do an interview and be asked what we did the night before, and we'd answer, 'Oh, we did some cocaine, got into a fight and fucked a prostitute.' And they would look at us and say, 'Who the fuck are these people?' But there were other people who were doing that who didn't talk about it. I won't mention any names, but there were quite a few bands who I talked to when I was doing 'The Heroin Diaries' who said, 'God, please don't let people know that we did that too.' And that was just never MÖTLEY 's way. We were very open lyrically and in interviews, and it kind of took off from there. And then with the book 'The Dirt' , people were reading about us, but not really listening to the music. I mean, they'd listen to it, but all the time they'd be thinking about how wild we were. One of the things we wanted to do with the film was show the musical side, too. We wanted to relaunch our music to a new fan base, and to our old fan base, too. We wanted to do exactly what you're talking about, which is to point the finger back at the music."

Despite the fact that artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like MÖTLEY CRÜE (which has been eligible since 2006), IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

Back in 2015, Sixx said that if his band was ever honored into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame , he would "probably decline" the nomination, explaining that the Rock Hall "has lost touch with art, songwriting craft, lyrics and influential music." He explained: "It's a fixed old-boy network that has lost touch with art, songwriting craft, lyrics and influential music and usually has other agendas at hand. Young bands tell me it's a joke, and these bands are the future."

Three months later, CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars told Rolling Stone that he didn't think the band would ever get the Rock Hall nod. "We were there when the thing was being built; we had to wear hard hats while we were walking around the building site. They were like, 'One of these days, you guys will be in here!' Right. [ Laughs ] I'd have to say, 80 percent no, 20 percent yeah. But it's like when you're a kid in kindergarten, and you take a nap and get a gold star as a reward. I don't need a few handful of people to say that I got a gold star, because I already got it from my fans. I see the crowds, I see the enthusiasm, I see all that stuff, and that's already satisfying enough for me."

Lee told Rolling Stone that he was somewhat torn on the question of even wanting to be in the Hall in the first place. "I do give a shit about it, because it's a time-stamp, it's the acknowledgement of your peers and fans and the music industry," he explained. "But then again, there's a part of me that goes, 'If we don't, that's fucking cool, too!' In my heart, I know that we came, we saw, we kicked its fucking ass; I don't need a pat on the back, or an induction, or another platinum album or two. Maybe I'm just not good with compliments."

Singer Vince Neil chimed in: "We'll probably go in at some point, but we might not all be alive when it happens. Our grandkids will probably have to pick up the awards."

Photo credit: Paul Brown Via Blabbermouth