Nikki Sixx.

Instability defined Nikki Sixx’s childhood. Born Franklin Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. in San Jose, California, in 1958, he moved frequently between his mother, Deanna Richards, and his grandparents after his father left the family soon after his birth. He attended seven different schools over eleven years. His mother had a long list of boyfriends, including comedian Richard Pryor. After a period of selling drugs and living on the streets, Sixx moved to Idaho to live with his grandparents, and then to Los Angeles, where he formed Mötley Crüe in 1981.

In 1981, Nikki Sixx co-founded Mötley Crüe with Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, and Vince Neil, launching a band that became synonymous with 1980s glam metal. He had legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx just before joining. In December 1987, Sixx was pronounced clinically dead after a heroin overdose, but paramedics revived him; the entire band entered rehab afterward. Sixx later formed the side projects Brides of Destruction and Sixx A.M., and in 2007 published his memoir The Heroin Diaries. He appeared in the 2019 biographical film The Dirt, which chronicled the band’s rise and fall.

Sixx married Brandi Brandt in 1989, and they had three children: Gunner Nicholas b. 1991, Storm Brieanne b. 1994, and Dekker Nilsson b. 1995. The couple divorced in November 1996. Just one month later, in December 1996, Sixx married Donna D’Errico; they had a daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary, in 2001. The pair briefly separated in 2001 but reconciled. In 2014, Sixx married Courtney Sixx, with whom he has a daughter named Ruby. Sixx was also briefly engaged to singer Vanity in 1987.

Mötley Crüe earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their recordings. Sixx’s near-fatal overdose in 1987 became a cautionary tale that he detailed in his 2007 memoir The Heroin Diaries. The band embarked on a farewell tour in 2014 but broke their promise and reformed in 2020. Sixx also wrote and produced music with Sixx A.M. and Brides of Destruction. He remains known as the bassist and co-founder of Mötley Crüe.