Guns recently shared his perspective on the creation of Mötley Crüe’s iconic riffs and discussed Nikki Sixx’s early days in the Los Angeles music scene and his development as a musician.
“Nikki’s a really likable guy, a lot of charisma,” Guns said.
“The first [Brides] album’s great. You’re being heavy with Nikki, you know? But Nikki’s interesting because he also loves stuff like [the soft rock band] Bread, this kind of melancholy stuff that attached to him when he was growing up. He’s the first to admit when he arrived here in L.A., he wanted to be a rock star, but he wasn’t a player yet. Everybody wanted him to be in their band, except he wasn’t ready.”
Guns went on to make a controversial statement about the authorship of Mötley Crüe’s guitar parts.
“So, by the time the Mötley Crüe thing came together, he’s writing these tunes. But [classic era Mötley guitarist] Mick Mars is a really creative beast,” he continued.
“Nikki swears he wrote all those riffs, and who am I to say no? But I don’t f*cking believe it for a second.”
Guns also acknowledged Sixx’s other musical strengths despite his skepticism about the riff writing credits.
“Sixx is great at hooks. And the bottom line with Nikki is he gets it done and it gets it out, and people buy it up. People believe in it, and that’s almost more important if you’re in the business.”
Wikipedia revealed previous legal challenges regarding songwriting attribution. A notable case emerged in 1997 when former vocalist John Corabi sued the band over removed songwriting credits on an album.
Mick Mars has also maintained a relatively low profile in recent years. Meanwhile, American Songwriter noted Sixx’s role as the band’s primary songwriter since its formation. His contributions extend beyond the band’s catalog to writing for other artists.
