Hanoi Rocks Guitarist Says Nikki Sixx Never Thanked Him for Saving His Life
In an interview this week, former Hanoi Rocks guitarist Andy McCoy called Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx a "second-class citizen," seemingly based on his perception of Sixx's past.
McCoy, pictured above at right, played in Hanoi Rocks, the defunct Finnish hard rock band, through their '80s heyday and 2000s reunion. Crue and Hanoi Rocks were friendly back in the day.
In the present, however, McCoy's aspersion seemed to sum up his current feelings for Sixx. He said the Motley Crue bassist never even thanked him after he "saved the guy's life" during a near-fatal overdose.
Indeed, Sixx is said to have clinically died for two minutes during a 1986 overdose before he was revived by paramedics. The tale appears in Crue's memoir and biopic, The Dirt. But McCoy put a different spin on the story, saying that he was responsible for saving Sixx.
"I'm not a farm boy like Nikki Sixx — I'm from the inner city," McCoy tells Indie Power TV in the Aug. 3 chat, according to a transcription from Blabbermouth.
"And I can't stand bullshit," the rocker continues. "Like [Sixx's] books, [they're] full of lies." Sixx's 2007 book, The Heroin Diaries, was followed by last year's The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx.
McCoy adds, "I saved the guy's life, and he makes up stories."
Stories involving Crue and Hanoi Rocks are well documented, as longtime rocks fans are undoubtedly aware. Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle (Nicholas Dingley) was killed in a 1984 car crash where Crue singer Vince Neil was the driver. McCoy previously said Neil never apologized. This week, he said similar of Sixx.
"I fucking got him revived, got his heart beating again," McCoy claims. "And the thank you I've gotten has been de nada ['of nothing']. I mean, de nada. And that makes him a second-class citizen in my eyes. 'Cause he only thinks about the buck."
In the past, heavy metal bassist and former Megadeth member David Ellefson also said he was present for Sixx's overdose. "I was there," Ellefson recalled in 2019. "[Guns N' Roses drummer] Steven Adler and I were friends, and I didn't really know the other guys too much; I think [I] maybe met Slash once or something. … Yeah, I was up there."
The Megadeth icon continued, "I'd never met Nikki before, or any of the Motley guys, and we're just partying and Slash and Nikki come busting into the room. I wanted to see if I could wedge some drugs off of them but they didn't have any, so I guess they were looking for some too. … They left and went in the room next door and, I mean, literally, I don't know, 15 minutes later, a girl comes running, 'Oh my God, Nikki's dead, get some ice.' You could hear the helicopters, you could hear the sirens. I mean, it was all going on."
Motley Crue are now on their North American "Stadium Tour." Get tickets here. McCoy's latest solo album, Jukebox Junkie, came out this year. Watch his full interview with Indie Power TV below.