Motley Crue Respond to Reunion Petition: ‘This Is Interesting…’
As rumors of a 2020 Motley Crue tour continue to intensify, the band's Twitter account has stoked the embers a bit, sharing a reunion petition and declaring it "interesting."
As of press time, 9,000 fans had supported the Change.org petition, which declares "if the rumors circulating about a Motley Crue comeback are true, then let this petition solidify it. The new fans need a new tour, PLEASE COME BACK."
The band has not performed together since Dec. 31, 2015, the last show of their farewell tour. The band signed a "cessation of touring" agreement prior to embarking on the trek, designed to prohibit any and all future live engagements under the Motley Crue banner.
Just prior to that final show, bassist Nikki Sixx declared that "all hell would rain down on any lawyers or promoters or anyone out there who thinks they are going to go sneaking around" that agreement, insisting that "dignity is the most important thing."
At the same time, singer Vince Neil blasted Kiss for having "five farewell tours and four reunion tours. That's exactly what we don't want to do... we wanted to go out on top, with people saying, 'Yeah, man, I saw the last concert. It was awesome!'" (His math is a little off, as Kiss' farewell tour count currently stands at two.)
Earlier this week, while appearing on the Howard Stern Wrap-Up Show, Black Crowes manager Mark DiDia said that his band's reunion tour wouldn't be the only one rock fans could look forward to next year, specifically citing a triple bill with Motley Crue and two other major bands.
"There’s a Motley Crue / Poison / Def Leppard tour coming, there’s a Rage Against the Machine... AC/DC’s coming. There’s a lot of rock coming out next year. God bless Drake and Billie Eilish and all that, they're streaming music and they have a lot of followers. Rock doesn’t stream, but there’s a thing that’s happening. I think people miss guitars and bass and drums.”
Without naming names, earlier this month Poison singer Bret Michaels revealed that he was "working real hard right now to put together something incredible with some other bands for next summer."
The success of this spring's Netflix biopic The Dirt has renewed industry interest in a Motley Crue reunion tour, with RadarOnline citing unnamed sources in reporting that the band has been offered $150 million to get back together.
Neil soon took to Twitter to deny the report, which also stated that he and drummer Tommy Lee were fighting over which one of them needed to go to rehab for alcohol abuse prior to agreeing to the reunion: "People these rumors are false. I haven’t spoken to any band member(s) since (The Dirt) movie premiere. I had to cancel shows due to back problems (for) which I am getting treatment now. There is no tension between me and Tommy. Don’t believe anything from (t)hese so-called gossip sites."
Earlier this year, Sixx told Rolling Stone that he occasionally second-guesses the band's decision. “Sometimes I look out at my friends, like the guys in Aerosmith and Metallica, and I’m like, ‘God damn it, did we retire too soon?'” he said. “But there will be no one-offs in our future. Maybe we’ll just get together and jam in Mick Mars’ front room.”