Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx wasn’t sure he played on the band’s first four albums, according to Canadian producer Bob Rock.
During an appearance on the This Is Jericho podcast, Rock shared Sixx’s doubts while preparing to record 1989’s Dr. Feelgood in Vancouver.
“He goes, ‘I don't think I ever played on any of the Mötley Crüe records. I think somebody came in at night and replaced all my parts.’ He says, 'So I don't really know how to play bass,’” Rock recalled. “And I said, ‘Too bad. You're playing bass on it.’ So I worked with him through Dr. Feelgood, did a lot of edits and made him play every note.”
Rock recalled meeting up with Sixx to work on demos for songs for the 2019 biopic The Dirt. “He picked up the bass and started playing, and I said, 'Woah, woah, woah! What's going on here?' He’d been taking bass lessons for five years. All of a sudden he's an amazing bass player,” said Rock.
“That's so cool, in that point of his career, he wanted to be better. You know what I mean? I admire that.”
Earlier this year, former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars alleged that Sixx "did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour ... 100% of Sixx’s bass parts were nothing but recordings.