Mötley Crüe formed in 1980, made up of Nikki Sixx (Who played briefly in Hollywood bands London & Sister), Vince Neil (Platinum blonde haired vocalist from Rockandi).. along with Tommy Lee & guitarist Mick Mars who the band found through an ad that read “Loud, Rude, Aggressive Guitarist Available".

Mötley originally released their debut Too Fast For Love on Leathür Records before signing to Elektra and re-releasing the remixed album in 1982. The bands hit single “Live Wire” got a buzz going. The following year Shout At The Devil was unleashed and brought the band to a national audience. With singles such as “Looks That Kill” and “Too Young To Fall In Love” drawing in fans from the original MTV generation, the bands outrageous live shows helped expand the fanbase even more.

Driving drunk, Vince Neil crashed into another car killing his friend and passenger Razzle; drummer of Hanoi Rocks the other victims emerged with broken bones and brain damage.

Vince consequently spend 30 days in jail in 1985 after being found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. During this time Mötley Crüe’s latest album Theatre Of Pain, had been released and was soaring up the charts and gave the band their first Top 40 hit with a cover of Brownsville Station's, "Smokin' in the Boys' Room".

Drummer Tommy Lee married actress Heather Locklear. A year later, Mötley Crüe released their fourth album, Girls Girls Girls. The uncensored video for the title track which featured topless strippers was immediately banned from television, not airing until a cleaned-up version was released. The group embarked on their own headline tour, but the European dates were canceled when Sixx suffered a drug overdose and nearly lost his life. During that year all four members went into drug rehabilitation. They returned, clean and sober, in 1989 with Dr. Feelgood, which hit number one on the Billboard charts due to the strong singles Kickstart My Heart, Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), Without You and the infamous title-track, which became their first Top Ten single.

After another worldwide tour, they released a compilation album, Decade of Decadence, in 1991. The group created their own record label, Mötley Records, and signed a new deal with Elektra for $25 million. In 1992, Neil was fired from the band after relationships frayed and was replaced with vocalist John Corabi. The 1994 product was Mötley Crüe, which peaked at number seven in the U.S. and eventually went gold, but was considered a commercial disappointment. In early 1997, Corabi was fired and Neil rehired for the much-hyped Generation Swine. The album opened at number four in the charts. Tommy was arrested for spousal abuse against wife Pamela Anderson and sentenced to jail time for most of the year shortly after the bands Greatest Hits release & tour.Tommy Lee left the band in 1999 after bitterness between himself and Neil emerged; he was replaced with Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo. That year, the revamped Crüe issued remastered editions of all their studio albums plus the rarities collection Supersonic and Demonic Relics. An album of all new material, New Tattoo, appeared in the summer of 2000. On the eve of the Crüe's tour in support of New Tattoo, Castillo was stricken with an undisclosed illness and sat out the tour to recuperate. Instead of cancelling the tour, the Crüe temporarily enlisted Hole drummer Samantha Maloney.

In May of 2001, the band issued their infamous tell-all biography, The Dirt (which even included input from former drummer Lee), that quickly became a best-seller. Sadly, Castillo passed away in the spring of 2002, and the band announced their hiatus would probably last into the next year. Sixx also began talking about reuniting the original line-up for a farewell tour, but Tommy Lee quickly went to the press and told them that his relationship with Vince Neil was simply too poor for that to happen. Tour drummer Samantha Maloney was also mixed up in things as Sixx decided to write a mean-spirited posting on his website in retaliation for the public acknowledgement of a feud between her and his wife due to his infidelity during their 2000 tour. Rumours of a reunion continued to swirl during 2003-04, even as Mötley Crüe members stayed busy with individual projects. Both Tommy Lee and Vince Neil participated in celebrity shows, Lee as the focus of a half-hour show on NBC featuring the rock star attending college classes and Neil in the first season of The Surreal Life. Sixx toured and released an album with his new band, Brides of Destruction. The reunion rumours finally came true in late 2004 when the four original members announced dates for a full tour in 2005, their first in more than six years. The tour coincided with the February release of the band’s double-disc greatest hits collection, Red, White & Crüe. An album of all new material is on the horizon for the band.