Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx Thinks It's "Irresponsible" for Bands to Perform with a "Beer Belly"

According to the bassist, bellies should decidedly not be motley

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Oct 27, 2021

Rock legend and apparent fitness-guru Nikki Sixx has standards for his live-performance craft — body standards.

In a new interview, the Mötley Crüe bassist said he believes it's "irresponsible" for musicians to play shows "tired with a beer belly."

People have naturally taken this statement as an attack on Sixx's own bandmate Vince Neil, because the singer's been doing just that for several years now.

While this body-shaming is absolutely uncalled for, Neil's ability to perform has undoubtedly been impacted by his health; as is the case for all performers. However, weight is not the standard by which health is measured, and perceived levels of physical fitness are actually pretty ableist benchmarks. Just saying!

Anyway, the new interview with Sixx comes from Fresh N Lean — an organic meal-delivery company that's "on a mission to redefine fast food," so his comments wouldn't be completely out of context. The musician gets into the nitty-gritty details of his health and fitness regimen, including a discussion of weight.

"My family is naturally, a lot of them, overweight. I'm 195 pounds, six-one," Sixx said. "My body wants to go 200 — it wants to do that. And it's not necessarily for vanity reasons — I just don't operate well [at a heavier weight]; the machinery doesn't operate well. I don't think good, I don't sleep good. So health and exercise has become such a part of my life," the rocker explained. Taking care of oneself is pretty rock 'n' roll, but let's remember that this looks different for everybody.

He continued:

I think back even around Shout at the Devil — I was drinking a lot of whiskey back then, but I remember trying to get into a sort of workout, training things to get ready for the tour. 'Cause it takes it out of you onstage. People come from everywhere to come see you play, and you just stand up there all tired with a beer belly? I mean, that's irresponsible. There's a million other bands that would like to have your job.

It's easy to see where he's coming from in terms of wanting to excel at his job; that's respectable. But this kind of generalization doesn't represent all musicians, many of whom have different stances on the matter and approaches to the gruelling work of performing live. Who are we to tell anyone how to do their jobs?

You can watch the full interview with Sixx below.


Sixx is fresh (n lean) off the release of his new memoir The First 21.

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