Nikki Sixx Recalls Getting Fired From Band By Blackie Lawless
While most know Nikki Sixx from his star-making run in Motley Crue and the band that emerged while creating music surrounding his first memoir, Sixx: A.M., there were several starts and stops with other bands before he hit it big. While recently speaking with Audacy's Ryan Castle (as seen below), Sixx recalls a very brief stint being in a band with future WASP star Blackie Lawless only to get fired in short order.
Sixx spoke about his ambition as a young man, telling Castle, "When I believe in something, I will not deviate. I'm very strategic. I'm the kind of person who goes 'Okay, we're going to win the Super Bowl,' and we haven't even drafted yet."
While addressing that mindset, he recalled once feeling he had definitely found the right grouping of musicians to hit it big. "Blackie Lawless was my friend and Blackie formed a band where he took me and Lizzie Grey and Dane Rage who were all together as our little group and we started our own band and became Sister," says Sixx.
"I remember being in the studio with Blackie and Blackie is a great songwriter, very talented guy and obviously went on to have a huge career with WASP. But I called my grandparents on the phone and I said, 'I think I got one.' And they said, 'What do you mean?' And I said, 'Everybody in the band is a star. Everybody can really play and this guy Blackie [is great]. I got a bunch of songs, Lizzie has a bunch of songs. This is it,'" recalled Sixx. "My grandparents were so happy, and then I called them back the next day and said, 'Blackie fired us.'"
Sixx recalled, "We were green and it was his band and his vision and rightfully so. We joined his gang and we weren't good enough. We were green. So we formed our own band London and that band ended up being one of the biggest bands in Los Angeles."
Sixx is currently making the rounds promoting his latest book, "The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx." The book delves into the early pre-fame years of Sixx's life. It's available now at this location.