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| Nikki. My childhood hero. |
Just answered a tweet posted by Nikki Sixx where he asked what inspires all of us. I wrote the sappy truth, which was "People who have success cus they stayed true to their heart & blazed their own trail instead of bitching & doing nothing inspire me." He gave me a smiley face back. My face lit up.
Now I'm listening to Too Fast For Love, which I originally had on cassette back in the day. Listening to this is making me think of the teenage me, sitting in my bedroom listening to Crue ad nauseum, trying to survive my high school years, wishing I could meet him even for five seconds. The way my best friend was obsessed with New Kids On the Block, I was obsessed with Motley Crue.
Fast forward 20 years. I've met him three times (once backstage, once randomly at a Tenacious D concert of all places, and once at a book signing he held for Heroin Diaries). Today I can add web-smile to that list. I know it's not the same as a face-to-face encounter, but I'm having a bad day and that just brought me out of the dumps. Whatever it takes, right? I don't feel that stupid. I'm pretty sure if Nikki himself got a web-smile from Keith Richards or David Bowie by surprise, he'd be happy too. Don't let rock stars fool you. They're all geeks like us :D
I remember the first time I saw Nikki's photo in a magazine. He scared the crap out of me. It was a promotional photo for Dr. Feelgood. Though I couldn't see his eyes, I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen! Instant love. I still joke that Nikki is the standard by which all other men are measured. I remember my 7th grade science teacher coming over to my desk to see what I was looking at in the magazine. He said his daughter met Nikki backstage during the Girls, Girls, Girls tour and that Nikki gave her a guitar pick that he bit the corner off of. I was floored. Soon after, my teacher brought the pick in and gave it to me. I freaked out.
I could go on all day about how hot Nikki is and why his music is great. But now as an adult, Nikki is still one of my idols for different reasons than when I was in middle school. For one thing, I admire his active efforts to remain sober. I have seen too many people keep on drinking their faces off and hurting those around them as if there's nothing they can do about it instead of tackling their demons head on in more creative, healthier ways. Am I around Nikki day and night to know he's sober all the time? No. But you know in this day and age that if he has a less-than-sober moment, TMZ is going to catch him right? I realize he's human and this moment may come some day, but I respect the fact he at least makes real attempts to stay clean and reaches out to his fans who need help via regular positive posts on the web to help them too.
Years have past since I first saw his photo, and I am glad to still have Nikki roaming the planet instead of only being here in spirit like other greats in the past who passed on too early. He's still touring with Motley Crue, finally publishing books (p.s. whatever actually happened to An Education in Rebellion?), and putting on a radio show (Sixx Sense). And of course, tweeting. Without which, I would not have received a web-smile tonight that put a smile on my own face after a day-long bad mood.
Signed,
Still a little Cruehead at heart
