This was a story that came by the way one of my subscribers so I want to thank them for suggesting
this topic. In the April of 1999 Motley Crue would announce that drummer Tommy Lee would be
leaving the group and not joining the band for a summer tour that year and would not be part
of the recording of their new album New Tattoo and the subsequent tour to support the album.
Tommy Lee would release a statement in April of 1999 that read
"I wish the guys all the best of luck this summer. I will miss them and the fans,
but it’s time for me to totally embrace my family and my new projects." Lee would be spending time
working on his new rap-rock project at the time called the Methods of Mayhem.
Vince Neil would tell Classic Rock in 2000 All we got was a call from his attorney saying he
wasn't coming back," "He wasn't into rock 'n' roll anymore. He even said that rock is dead ... It all
happened during a void in Mötley. We weren't even rehearsing, so it was no big deal."
It was around this time that Lee spent some time in jail after a domestic altercation with his
ex-wife pamela anderson. MTV would report his jail stint contributed to his decision to leave as did
his poor relationship with frontman Vince Neil. In 2000 Lee would talk to Rolling Stone and
revealed he had an altercation with frontman Vince Neil and hadn’t spoke with his ex-bandmates
since his departure claiming the frontman and i quote “sucker punched” him in vegas
at the airport whiel the band was on tour to promote it’s greatest hits album.
Lee would state that Neil was and i quote "doing his usual daily drunk-guy thing.”
Neil would shoot back telling the new york post that Lee ajn i quote "sounds confused
and a bit hypocritical." The frontman would take a swipe at the Methods Of
Mayhem project, telling the "Post," "Dreadlocks and artists like Lil' Kim and Snoop Dogg in your
video don't make you an urban or alternative act." Within a week of the announcement coming the band
would find a replacement drummer in Randy Castillo who had previously played with Ozzy Osbourne.
Nikki Sixx would release a statement that read "Randy is the best drummer we know—he’s
known for being a hard-hitting rock drummer and we’re thrilled for him to out with us."
Castillo would add "I got a call from Nikki and couldn’t think of a better way to spend my summer
than playing with Motley Crue. I’ve been a fan for years and look forward to being a part of
the madness." While Castillo would tour with the band that summer and record drums for their new
album New Tattoo he would be unable to tour with the band to promote the album as he was
diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer that required surgery according to MTV. In June of 2000 the
band enlisted Hole drummer Samantha maloney . She would tell nrk.no how she got the gig saying
In 1999 I went to my first concert with Randy Castillo on drums. I was introduced to the band
afterwards. Then one morning around May/June 2000, Nikki Sixx e-mailed me. He told me that Randy was
ill and said if I wanted to fill in for him, the job was mine. I jumped on a plane that day
from New York and headed out west to Los Angeles to work with the band for the rest of that year
Maloney who was 24 at the time would issue a statement that said that playing with Crüe has
been a lifelong dream for her, and compared it to winning the lottery.
Hole frontwoman courtney love gave her blessings in the same statement saying "It is a great moment
in the history of Rock when Samantha Maloney gets to play "Girls Girls Girls" with Mötley Crüe."
Maloney would tell NRK when asked about the band’s history of perceived sexist behavior and internal
conflicts saying It was a dream for me to be playing in a band that was very influential in
me picking up drumsticks in the first place. I was not aware of any sexist behavior or band conflicts
when I joined the band. I was a fan of the music. As far as sexist behavior, in my experience,
women who surrounded the band backstage had no respect for themselves.. Many women will
do whatever it takes to get to meet these guys. All I had to do was be myself. She would also
go on to say that the band members themselves were supportive of her and that while some fans
were hesitant to see her in the band at first, she was able to win them over at each concert.
It was during her time on the road with the band that writer Neil Strauss joined Motley
Crue on tour to write the infamous book about the band the Dirt. While Maloney would hear
the stories first hand from the members of motley crue she would admit to never reading
the book when it came out a few years later Maloney toured with Mötley Crüe until January 2001
and can be seen and heard on the "Lewd, Crued, and Tattooed" DVD as well as live material on
the album New Tattoo. Asked by NRK to share some Crüe tour stories, she demurred – "All
I can say is: You can't even imagine!" It was during the time Randy Castillo was
recovering after his surgery that he would be diagnosed with cancer after finding a lump on
his jaw. Sadly in March of 2002 he would pass away. The band would go on hiatus until 2004.
Maloney would go on to play with a variety of groups including the eagles of death
metal and peaches in addition to all female project called the chelsea.
However, while Castillo was recovering from stomach surgery, he was diagnosed with squamous
cell carcinoma after finding a tumor on his jaw. Sadly, he lost his nearly year
and a half fight with cancer on March 26, 2002.[Soon afterward, the band went on hiatus
It would come out in 2006 that bassist Nikki Sixx and his wife former baywatch star Donna D’Ericco
would get divorced. Those reports would state that Sixx and D’Errico had previously split earlier but
gotten back together after rumors circulated of Sixx cheating on his wife with Maloney.