Nikki Sixx Says MÖTLEY CRÜE Should Have Changed The Band Name In 90s After Vince Neil Quit

Nikki Sixx says that MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s self-titled album should have been released under a different band name.

Issued in 1994, “Mötley Crüe” was the band’s only LP to feature singer John Corabi, who joined CRÜE in 1992 as the replacement for the group’s original vocalist, Vince Neil.

Despite a Top 10 placing on the album chart, the record ended up being a commercial failure in the wake of grunge.

During a recent chat with rock and roll comedian Dean Delray, Sixx was asked if Corabi was the only singer who auditioned for the then-vacant vocalist slot in MÖTLEY CRÜE.

“We talked about different ideas for singers, and Corabi was one of those guys… I’m trying to think if anybody else came in,” he said.

“I don’t really think anybody else came in. But John came in and he had this really whiskey voice, and he played rhythm guitar, which was really cool, because, obviously, Mick Mars being the only guitar player [in MÖTLEY CRÜE], when you have a second guitar, you can write different music.

There’s a big difference in a band with two different guitar players — you can create counter rhythms and stuff that you might do on a record but you can’t do live. And it was a real exciting time. We jumped at that; we just jumped right in it and made a record. And I think it’s a pretty good record.”

Sixx continued:

“My only complaint about that record is I believe it shouldn’t have been called MÖTLEY CRÜE; we should have just taken a bullet, changed the name of the band, because when people got the record, they’re, like, ‘This doesn’t sound like MÖTLEY CRÜE.’ ‘Cause Vince wasn’t singing, and we kind of, musically, went into a little bit of a different direction. [It was a] great record, but, in hindsight, I wish we had called it THE DIRTY DOGS or something, and then whatever happened with THE DIRTY DOGS is that, and then you would go back to [doing your previous band].”