Posted in: Musicouching by Rynn Michaelz on June 26th, 2009 | 5 Comments
With physical constitutions from hell, these rockers have done it all and are still alive to tell the tale…
Motley Crue were a band who epitomised the decadence of the 1980s with their mantra of “anything worth doing, is worth overdoing”. At the band’s helm was Nikki Sixx, a man who died of a heroin overdose only to be brought back to life, hitch-hike home, change his answer phone machine message to “Hi it’s Nikki. I’m not here because I’m dead.” and then overdose again. Now clean and sober, Sixx released a diary he purportedly kept during the worst period of his addictions as a book in 2007, called ‘The Heroin Diaries’.
Looking like he walked out of a comic book about superhero rock stars, Slash is iconic as both a great guitarist and substance abuser extraordinaire. With his top hat, perma-cigarette and ubiquitous bottle of Jack Daniels, the man christened Saul Hudson raised more hell than three rehabs worth of patients yet still seemed like a friendly and affable guy all the while. Even Axl Rose, who rarely has a good word to say about his former guitarist these days had this to say: “To give him his due, Slash could play great guitar while on a lot of drugs”.
Now happily married with two children and the face of the remarkably popular Guitar Hero games (who else?), Slash is no longer dancin’ with Mr. Brownstone but has a lifelong reminder of his former excesses; a pacemaker-defibrillator unit which was fitted into his heart when he was just 35 years old.
OK, so I know this is two people so it’s technically seven musical madmen on the list but at the height of their decadence in the seventies Tyler and Perry came as a unit. Excessive self abuse with whatever drugs they could get their hands on led to the break-up of Aerosmith as well as an array of health and family problems. Steven Tyler was kept away from daughter Liv by the actress’s mother (former model Bebe Buell) until she was twelve because of his indulgences and Perry severed several personal relationships through his drinking and drug use. They weren’t called the Toxic Twins for nothing!
cybertruth June 26th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
half of these guys (especially richards) have been dead for 10 years and just dont know it yet.
Lauren Axelrod June 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Amen to that Mnofdichotomy! That’s what we love most about them
Linda Watts July 8th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Saul (Slash) is actually a great person even outside of music.
Jenna Appleseed September 16th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Mnofdichotomy – that’s a Randy Newman reference, innit
zoeyclark December 28th, 2009 at 10:32 am
-I saw Motley Crue live in 2005 and boy, they still rock!
-It sucks that I could only see the new gunsnroses line up- it hurts to say gunsnroses but axl has kept the name. Would have loved to see Slash live.
- Fingers crossed, I will see Aerosmith sometime soon.
- Ozzy is alive? I know he is breathing but…the Osbournes was just…OK.Let’s just concentrate on the rock part. : )
- How Keith Richards is still alive beyond me but the casting executives couldn’t have done a better job. Richards played Johnny Depp’s father in Pirates of the Caribbean.