Nikki Sixx & Steven Tyler: From Foes To Friends

On Nikki’s radio program ‘Sixx Sense’ he recently [2011] interviewed Mr. Steven Tyler about his new book, his relationship with his Aerosmith band mates & his tenure on ‘American Idol.’ It’s a very candid interview & Steven’s frank discussion about Aerosmith’s relationship lead Nikki to almost dish about the Motleys but he steps back & kinda just trails off into empty euphemisms. Tyler tells some killer anecdotes, several pertaining to Crue history, such as one about an interesting night when the boys all fell off the wagon while recording Dr. Feelgood & how the Crue inspired the Aerosmith hit ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady).’ Check out the complete interview:

[**Sixx Sense has removed this interview from its webpage. If anybody has a copy or a link to this please let me know in the comments section, thank you.]

Listening to this conversation you may never have guessed that when these two bands first came into contact it was not so pleasant a meeting. Crue had become famous during a period when Aerosmith were at a low peak in their career (check out more details about Aerosmith in the early 1980s at their Wiki page HERE). Tyler’s first run-in with Nikki, an obvious long-time fan & disciple (he has said of Aerosmith, ‘They are my Rolling Stones’) left him with a bad taste in his mouth. Here was a young upstart selling millions of records while Tyler’s band was struggling, &, to rub salt in the wound, Nikki had appropriated Steven’s famous ‘jester’ outfit for the Theatre of Pain tour. In a circa 1985-6 Hit Parader article entitled ‘Motley Crue VS. Ratt: Who’s the King of American Metal?’ Rob Andrews rates the two bands above their competition (I love the slag to pretenders ‘Quiet Riot’) & has some not so friendly words from Tyler.

(click images to enlarge & READ)

  

The two seem to have patched things up over the years but Nikki was initially hurt by the words his hero was saying about him in the media. Here's part of a Circus Magazine article that has Nikki's reaction to Tyler's 'Johnny-Come-Latelys' comment.

20 years later in 2006 Motley & Aerosmith teamed up for a series of shows. Here's Nikki with the boys from Boston performing the Beatles' 'Helter Skelter':