The project sees the rocker tell his origin story: how Frank Feranna became Nikki Sixx, chronicling his journey from Idaho farmboy to the man who formed Motley Crue.
Born Franklin Carlton Feranna on December 11, 1958, young Frankie was abandoned by his father and partly raised by his mother, a woman who was ahead of her time in some ways and deeply troubled in others. Frankie ended up living with his grandparents, bouncing from farm to farm and state to state…but there was a burning desire for more, and that more was music; he eventually took a Greyhound bound for Hollywood.
In Los Angeles, Frank lived with his aunt and his uncle - the president of Capitol Records. But there was no short path to the top. He was soon on his own. There were dead-end jobs: dipping circuit boards, clerking at liquor and record stores, selling used light bulbs, and hustling to survive. But at night, Frank honed his craft, joining Sister, a band formed by fellow hard-rock veteran Blackie Lawless, and formed a group of his own: London, the precursor of Motley Crue. Turning down an offer to join Randy Rhoads’ band, Frank changed his name to Nikki London, Nikki Nine, and, finally, Nikki Sixx.
With a vision to form a group that combined punk, glam, and hard rock into the biggest, most theatrical package the world had ever seen, Sixx eventually made that dream happen with Motley Crue.
"You've heard the tales of excess and debauchery. All the peaks and the valleys that came with rock and roll stardom and my life in one of the world's biggest bands. This is the story that you haven't heard: the one that led up to those stories," says Sixx. "It's the intimate, personal story of how an innocent Idaho farm boy with a burning dream and desire – for music, for love, and for fame – became the notorious Nikki Sixx. I believe our first twenty-one years have a lot to do with shaping who we become. These are my first twenty-one, and it's my hope that they thrill and inspire you to invest in your own, biggest dreams."
Now in his twenty-first year of sobriety, Sixx has previously detailed his own addiction issues in the 2007 memoir, "The Heroin Diaries" – including a 1987 overdose that was re-enacted in Motley Crue’s 2019 Netflix biopic, “The Dirt”; he also shared his passion for music and photography in the 2011 book, “This Is Gonna Hurt.”
“The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx” will be available in hardcover, eBook and audio editions.
Motley Crue recently postponed their US stadium tour with Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, with shows moving to summer of 2022. See also:
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Search Motley Crue at hennemusic
