SIXX:A.M., the long-running project featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx alongside former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist DJ Ashba and vocalist James Michael, has unveiled its new single “The First 21” from its upcoming compilation album “Hits”, due on October 22 via Better Noise Music. The album is a retrospective celebration of SIXX:A.M.‘s biggest hits and fan-favorite songs, that will also include five unheard tracks and mixes, marking the band’s first official album with new material since 2016.
As the new companion track of Sixx‘s new memoir by the same name, “The First 21” looks back nostalgically at the moments where we discovered music, ourselves and our dreams. An official lyric video for the song also premiered today, featuring exclusive unseen childhood footage following Frank Feranna‘s journey to becoming Nikki Sixx. The video was directed by artist Lucy Dyson, who has handled creative visuals for Paul McCartney, Beyonce, Paul Smith and many more.
Inspired by the release of Sixx‘s “The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx”, SIXX:A.M. members Michael, Ashba and Sixx are making “Hits” available as a companion piece to the upcoming book. With a throwback to the band’s more formative years, “The First 21” captures the captivating content of the memoir for fans.
Now in his 21st year of sobriety, Sixx is incredibly passionate about his craft and wonderfully open about his life in rock and roll. He is globally recognized for his work with people in recovery and has been passionately vocal about the disastrous social effects of the opioid crisis in the USA and worldwide. In the memoir, Sixx, already a three-time New York Times best-selling author, tells the inspirational story of his first 21 years, how Frank Feranna became Nikki Sixx. The book fills in the earlier parts of Sixx‘s fascinating true-life story, which fans have partly come to know through MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s widely celebrated collaborative autobiography “The Dirt” which was most recently adapted into a hit biopic by Netflix in 2019. “The First 21” also continues Sixx‘s tradition of setting the soundtrack to his own life, combining his work as a writer and a musician to offer multi-layered pieces of art.
In 2007, SIXX:A.M. released “The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack”, which acts as a companion piece to Sixx‘s best-selling memoir “The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star”, released the same year, introducing the concept of a book soundtrack into popular culture. Both the book and the album were successes upon release, with the book instantly becoming a New York Times best seller in its first week, selling out in bookstores around the U.S. The album spawned the No. 1 single “Life Is Beautiful”, while simultaneously receiving critical acclaim and eventually achieving gold certification in the U.S.
“Hits” track listing:
01. Life Is Beautiful (3:35)
02. This Is Gonna Hurt (3:56)
03. Lies Of The Beautiful People (3:58)
04. Pray For Me (4:13)
05. Rise (3:53)
06. Stars (3:50)
07. Maybe It’s Time (4:21)
08. Skin (3:25)
09. Belly Of The Beast (3:47)
10. Are You With Me Now (4:02)
11. Girl With Golden Eyes (4:20)
12. Accidents Can Happen (4:07)
13. Gotta Get It Right (3:12)
14. We Will Not Go Quietly (4:20)
New bonus tracks:
15. The First 21 (3:20)
16. Talk To Me – Radio Mix (3:39)
17. Penetrate (4:38)
18. Waiting All My Life (3:17)
19. Skin – Rock Mix (3:50)
20. Life Is Beautiful – Piano Vocal (3:06)
Sixx recently teamed up with Rob Zombie, John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON) and Tommy Clufetos (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK SABBATH, ROB ZOMBIE) in a new project called L.A. RATS. The quartet came together expressly to record a cover of “I’ve Been Everywhere” for the soundtrack to the movie “The Ice Road”. “I’ve Been Everywhere” is a song written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, and made popular by Lucky Starr in 1962.
MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s “The Stadium Tour” with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
