Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx announces new autobiography The First 21

It's released in October 2021

Nikki Sixx

Published 17th Jun 2021

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx will release his new autobiography The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx on Tuesday 5th October 2021.

The 336-page book was edited by Brant Rumble and it’s described as an “origin story” that focuses on the first 21 years of Sixx’s life – from his upbringing as Franklin Carlton Feranna in Idaho, to moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a rock star as Nikki Sixx.

Nikki Sixx has explained that The First 21 is markedly different from his notorious 2007 memoir ‘The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star’ and Mötley Crüe’s equally infamous book ‘The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band’.

"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," said 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."

Nikki Sixx - The First 21 memoir

Mary Ann Naples, VP of US publishers Hachette Books, added: "Whether you're a Mötley Crüe and Nikki Sixx fan or not, if you're looking for a memoir that transports you back to the '70s and early '80s, and that — for those who lived it — will reacquaint you with the vinyl collection your parents threw out in the '90s, then this is your book and the larger themes of getting to know who you are and taking control of your identity certainly resonate now in the still-new 2020s."

Mötley Crüe’s collaborative 2001 autobiography ‘The Dirt’ was made into a hit Netflix movie of the same name in 2019.

Buoyed by the success of The Dirt movie, Mötley Crüe announced their reformation in November 2019 when they released a statement and video confirming they had destroyed their Cessation of Touring Agreement and they will be hitting the road once again.

Explaining why they have reunited, the band wrote: “Following the huge success of their Netflix biopic The Dirt, Mötley Crüe has seen a massive surge in new audience.

“And the band best known for breaking the rules has destroyed their cessation of touring contract in true Mötley Crüe-fashion, by literally blowing it up.”

Mötley Crüe’s extensive North American Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett is scheduled to take place in summer 2022.

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The real names of famous rock stars:

Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks

Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović

'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'

Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker

John 5’s real name: John William Lowery

Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback

Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont

Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello

Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano

Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock

King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen

Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson

Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm

Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou

Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga

Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano

Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti

Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose

Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott

Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick

Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III

Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola

Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara

Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary

Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein

Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib

Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal

Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III

Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison

Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg

Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz

Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray

Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.

Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier

Slash's real name: Saul Hudson

Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard

Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona

Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson

Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer

Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones

Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler

Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks

Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell

Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen

Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton

Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan

Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black

Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister

John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin

Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin

Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp

Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion

Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth

David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones

Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman

Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie

Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley

Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank

Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor

Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld

The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans

Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday

Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico

Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne

Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi

Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini

Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis

Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson

Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner

Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad

Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler

Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo

Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel

Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield

Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks

Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch

Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk

Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira

Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)

Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt

Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan

Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke

Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford

M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders

Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett

Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine

Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls

Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews

Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis

Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum

Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain

Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder

Steel Panther’s real names

Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.