Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee recently talked about a little-known chapter from the band’s early days. He discussed the time he and bassist Nikki Sixx worked as male escorts in a candid conversation on Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard.
During the interview, he was asked directly about his brief stint as a gigolo before Mötley Crüe broke through; Lee confirmed that both he and Sixx took part. He explained that financial desperation was what led them there.
“Yeah. Nikki and I both were,” Lee said. “Very beginning when we had all moved into an apartment together. And then we meet this lady who’s the madame. She was a few years older than us. And that’s where we met and then started talking.”
Lee went on to describe the circumstances that made the offer hard to refuse. He noted just how little money the band had at the time.
“She’s like, I got work for you guys. And dude, this was at a time where we’re all living together and we literally our manager would give us $20 a week to live on,” he continued. “Each guy got 20 bucks a week. So, we were like we saw some big numbers and we were like, ‘Okay, f*ck it. Let’s do it.’”
He then estimated they went on roughly nine or ten dates. He described the experiences as often surprisingly tame — and occasionally enjoyable.
“[We went on] probably nine or 10 [dates]. [Usually older ladies and] sometimes just like would just go and just sit and have dinner with them. And that’s it. Just dinner literally,” Lee said. “But you know what? I think I was lucky too because a couple of like the older women that I got, they were actually really fun. Wild ass lady. Well, for some, you know, older lady to be hiring. She’s got to be pretty open and wild anyway. And so a couple I was fortunate enough to like have some good time.”
Lee also revealed the pay, which was a significant sum compared to what the band was surviving on at the time.
“I’d get 500 bucks,” he said. “While living on 20 bucks a week, we got 500 bucks for a couple hours.”
The remarks offer a rare and candid look at the financial struggles Mötley Crüe faced before achieving rock stardom.
