When he was still a member of
Motley Crue ummer
Tommy Lee undoubtedly garnered the most
headlines of
all
four bandmembers --
due in part to two separate marriages to
Hollywood actresses.
Born in
Athens,
Greece, as
Thomas Lee Bass on
March 10, 1962, his family moved to
California a year after his birth.
Lee received his first drum
set at the
ripe old age of four, but didn't receive his first
real kit until reaching his teenage years, upon his
discovery of
hard rock and
heavy metal (
Deep Purple,
Kiss,
Led Zeppelin,
etc.). After drumming for his high-school marching
band, Lee quit high school in his senior year, as he focused entirely on following his
dream of joining a rock band. His first real band was called Suite 19, and played the
Sunset Strip in L.A. during the
early '80s. It was at a Suite 19
show that Lee bumped into his
future bandmate,
Nikki Sixx.
Sixx was a bassist looking to form a theatrical band that would specialize in anthemic heavy metal, and when he saw Lee play, he knew he had found his drummer. Sixx successfully convinced Lee to leave Suite 19 and form the nucleus of what would become M?y Cr?e drummer changed his name to Tommy Lee (also earning the nickname "T-Bone" from Sixx), and guitarist Mick Mars joined the fledgling band shortly afterwards. Lee recommended a singer from his high-school days, Vince Neil, and after several attempts to get him to try out for the band, Neil landed the gig during the first jam session. M?y Cr?ckly built a fanatical local following, issuing their debut album, Too Fast for Love, on their own independent Leathur label. Elektra Records decided to sign The band shortly thereafter, reissuing their debut, as the band began a string of hit releases throughout the decade -- 1983's "Shout at the Devil," 1985's "Theater of Pain," 1987's "Girls, Girls, Girls," and 1989's "Dr. Feelgood" --establishing the quartet as one of the biggest hard rock/metal bands of the '80s. The band took rock theater to a whole new level, especially Lee, whose drum solo centered around such crowd-pleasing gimmicks as his entire kit revolving and spinning, while he continuing to bash on the skins.
Although his achievements with M?y Cr? extremely impressive, it was his celebrity marriages to Heather Locklear in the '80s and Pamela Anderson in the '90s that made Tommy Lee a household name. one of his most famous incidents occurred during his torrid relationship with Anderson, when they were both involved the highly publicized "sex tape scandal" (a videotape that was stolen from their house was eventually made available to the public). Lee also spent several months behind bars in 1998 after Anderson accused Lee of hitting her in front of their children. The pair divorced while the Cr?mmer was serving his prison sentence, but reconciled and then broke up again after his release. Lee also decided to leave M?y Cr?ing his stay in prison, and stuck to his promise after the completion of the Cr?reatest Hits tour in 1999. With rap metal being all the rage, Lee formed a similarly styled outfit, Methods of Mayhem, issuing a self-titled album the same year and touring behind it.
Although Lee had little to do with M?y Cr?er splitting, he agreed to take part in their 2001 tell-all autobiography, The Dirt. In addition to his musical output with the Cr? M.O.M., Lee has made guest appearances on albums by other artists (Stuart Hamm -- The Urge, Nine Inch Nails -- Downward Spiral, Rob Zombie -- Hellbilly Deluxe), contributed a solo song, "Welcome to Planet Boom," to the soundtrack of then-wife Pamela Anderson's 1996 movie, Barb Wire, and produced an album for the pre-Goldfinger project from John Feldmann and Simon Williams, the Electric Love Hogs. He parted ways with M.O.M. partner Tilo and began recording with members of Incubus and the Deftones. Through time, he eventually started recording songs featuring himself almost exclusively, and by the time it came to release the results, it was released as his first solo album. The CD, 2002's Never a Dull Moment, reflected his love of rap metal and electronica and featured little of the Motley Crue swagger he was famous for.
--Greg Prato, All Music Guide
