GODSMACK’s SULLY ERNA: MÖTLEY CRÜE’s NIKKI SIXX Is ‘An Old, Fat, Washed-Up Has-Been’ Who ‘Treats People Like Shit’
Erna continued: “I don’t know what his deal is, man, but I can just tell you that he is the most… I don’t even know what the word is for it. I’ve never met anyone like that. He’s just so pompous and egotistical and he feels like he’s still on top of the world. He just thinks he’s so relevant, and he’s just an old, fat washed-up has-been. He annoys me, and I don’t even deal with it anymore. It’s lame.”
The GODSMACK singer went on to detail some of the events that occurred on the “Crüe Fest 2” tour that caused bad vibes between the two bands. He said: “Here’s the difference: When you show up and you go see a band like an AEROSMITH, or whatever, right? They show up, man, they welcome you with open arms, they give you this amazing all-access laminate that you go, ‘Oh my God! I feel like I’m 15 again.’ Like, ‘I’m gonna stick this in my photo book and keep it forever.’ And yet we go on tour with CRÜE, and we show up, and Nikki hands us our laminates. It says… This is our laminate, dude. I swear to God, I’m not even exaggerating. It’s a white piece of paper, by the way — just blank on both sides — laminated, that says ‘Opening Band’ on it. It doesn’t say ‘Crüe Fest 2’, it doesn’t say ‘All Access. It’s, like, written with a fucking Sharpie. It just says, ‘Opening Band.’ And we just looked it, like, ‘Seriously?’ Boom. Tossed that in the salad bowl.”
He continued: “[Nikki is] ‘pass happy.’ Like, ‘This one goes to this one,’ and, ‘That one goes to that one,’ and, ‘Make sure this one doesn’t come down this corridor.’ And, ‘This one cannot film that side.’ We’re, like, ‘Dude, get a fucking grip on yourself. Seriously!’ It’s, like, nobody cares. The only reason I even wanted to stand on the side of the stage is to watch Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer], because I love watching that dude play. He’s entertaining, it’s fun, and he’s a good friend of mine.”
Erna added: “It’s just that kind of stupid moves that makes him look like such a dick. And if he could just see that, that the way he treats people and the way he conducts everything around him… There’s a reason why people don’t wanna associate with him, there’s a reason why he has zero respect in this industry. And the only people that really give a shit are the people that have just followed him from back in the day or whatever.”
Sully admitted that he was once a “big” fan MÖTLEY CRÜE who “thought Nikki was a good fucking dude.” The GODSMACK frontman explained: “[Nikki] looked cool; he looks like a rock star. And I was so disappointed when I met him. Even Tommy was, like, ‘I think you and Nikki are gonna get along good. You’re both businessmen.’ It couldn’t have went any worse; it was a train wreck. But it’s how he treated us from the beginning. That set that whole tone.”
He continued: “[Nikki] can say whatever he wants, he can make up whatever story he wants. The bottom line is, he… And you are the only person who’s ever got this interview, by the way, so you’re welcome. I don’t respond to shit media-wise and publicity-wise, ’cause I’m not gonna get into a big media war with him, ’cause I know that’s exactly what he wants, so he can still feel like he’s on top of the game. But this dude, the way he treats people, and his attitude towards everything, and how he struts around like he thinks he’s… And I don’t even care about that. If you think you’re still a huge rock star, then that’s cool. But I’m a human being, and so is everyone else, and this band takes a lot of pride in how we treat people. Because we know we’re musicians, but we’re not rock stars, and we don’t act like rock stars. And so I don’t like it, man. I don’t care if it even wasn’t me. If I’d seen him treating someone else that way, I would have still had the same problem with him.”
Erna also took issue with the fact that Sixx has been “bashing” GODSMACK in online posts and on Nikki‘s radio show, saying that the beef between the two musicians should never have extended to their bands. Sully explained: “I told Tommy a long time ago… I actually sat and I had dinner with Tommy one night, and I said, ‘Dude, listen. We’ve been friends for a long time. Never once — ever once — have I ever dissed your brand. Ever. Know that. Your bass player’s a whole another story, but I’ve never dissed your brand.’ So for this guy to just be bashing GODSMACK: ‘Blah blah blah blah blah.’ I’m, like, ‘Dude, whatever.'”
As a parting shot, Sully offered his opinion on the long-standing rumor that MÖTLEY CRÜE uses pre-recorded backing tracks in its live shows, something that CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars all but confirmed a year and a half ago.
“I don’t even think Nikki plays his bass [during MÖTLEY CRÜE concerts],” Sully said. “I mean, I think all his bass tracks are on fucking Pro Tools. All his backup vocals are on Pro Tools, ’cause I know the motherfucker that runs the Pro Tools.”
Back in August 2014, Nikki claimed that he was approached by a publicist for GODSMACK saying that the Erna-led band really wanted to appear on the MÖTLEY CRÜE basssist’s “Sixx Sense With Nikki Sixx” syndicated radio program. Nikki recalled: “I [told the publicist], ‘Over my dead [expletive] body.’ And they said, ‘Well, you know, they wanna be on the show because their record’s coming out.’ And I go, ‘Did you forget the fact that they wrote a song about me called ‘Cryin’ Like A Bitch’ and that there’s probably 15 festivals that MÖTLEY CRÜE is headlining and that we said if GODSMACK‘s on ’em, we’re not doing them? And that was just the beginning of my revenge. And that I take every opportunity to slander them and be very immature? And then they wanna be on the show? Dude, have some credibility. I mean, Jesus Christ! I’m so embarrassed for you. At least you can go, ‘We’ve got a new record and we don’t wanna be on that [expletive]’s radio show.” [And he said], ‘Well, we actually need some help now.'”
Three years earlier, Sixx had the following to say regarding Erna‘s complaints about how GODSMACK was treated on the Crüe Fest 2 tour, “Every person — from road crew, fans and even all the bands on the tour (including [Sully‘s] band) — was so happy, but [Erna] just seems to be crying like a bitch,” Sixx replied. “Funny, even his manager told me he’s an asshole… Maybe the problem is just in his head… I got no problem with him.”