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About the Author

Includes the name: Nicki Sixx

Image credit: Christopher Peterson

Works by Nikki Sixx

The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx (2021) 74 copies, 1 review
Dr. Feelgood [1989 album] (1989) — Songwriter / Bassist — 19 copies
Home Sweet Home [1985 single] (1985) — Songwriter / Bassist — 5 copies
Nikki Sixxin maailma (2012) 4 copies
Looks That Kill [1984 single] (1984) — Songwriter / Bassist — 3 copies
Without You [1990 single] (1990) — Songwriter / Bassist — 2 copies
Mötley Crüe [1994 album] (1994) — Songwriter / Bassist — 1 copy

Associated Works

Theatre of Pain [1985 album] (1985) — Songwriter / Bassist — 19 copies

Tagged

addiction (37) autobiography (106) biography (128) drug abuse (18) drugs (62) ebook (21) hardcover (15) heavy metal (16) heroin (14) memoir (85) metal (13) Mick Mars (12) Motley Crue (69) music (208) music biography (14) musicians (16) Nikki Sixx (39) non-fiction (148) own (22) owned (14) pop culture (13) read (41) rock (41) rock and roll (41) rock music (18) sex (19) to-read (165) Tommy Lee (19) Vince Neil (15) vintiquebooks (12)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

89 reviews
Talk about the dregs of humanity. At this point in my life, I hold no illusions that the rock stars of my teen years are secretly chivalrous, tender-hearted gentlemen. But I wasn't quite prepared for just how very awful they were (and maybe still are).

Like eating Twinkies, there is absolutely nothing of value to come from reading this. Death, jail, familial chaos, degenerative disease, & the looming threat of financial ruin are not enough by themselves - or altogether! - to get any of these show more guys to truly straighten up. There will always be some booze, some drugs, and/or some chick that can derail their lives in an instant.

Yet as repulsive as each and every one of the episodes in this tale was, I couldn't put it down. It was like reading an episode of Jerry Springer. Once you give it two minutes, it owns you 'til it's done with you.

I like reading/watching rock docs/bios, because the myth is deconstructed: you can get a glimpse of the real person. The Dirt TOTALLY deconstructs these guys, making it clear that no one should have gone anywhere near any of them until about 1997, or maybe never. Reading this book will reinforce any parent's fear of their kids going to concerts or wanting to be rock stars.

That being said, if you think you want to read this, if you think you can handle it, you should pick it up. You'll be enthralled & tear through it quick as you can.
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It was a brave decision for Nikki Sixx to delve into his past and bring The Heroin Diaries out into the light for all to scrutinize. The book is an interesting mix of memoir and hindsight analysis. Nikki has taken his diary, that was kept beginning on Christmas day in 1986 through the Christmas of 1987, and released it, warts and all, for public consumption in the hopes of helping a few people out. It documents a dark time in his life where he battled the dragon while chasing it every once show more in a while.

Throughout the diary, you get a peek into the thoughts of a junkie. Of course, we're never sure how honest the thoughts are, as he is obviously lying even to himself and the diary at some points. Nikki also enlisted the help of friends, family, and business associates who added their own version of some of the events and their insights, as well. He also engages in the exercise of relating what he did to how he feels today and how his actions have affected him and others.

This is a fabulous addendum to Motley Crue's biography, The Dirt, as it takes a piece of time and expands it in a very personal way. It illustrates how someone can be king of his domain yet still be completely out of control and out of touch, creating his own reality of addiction and paranoia.

Proceeds from the book go to Nikki's favorite charity, Running Wild in the Night, which helps homeless teens on the streets of Hollywood, making it well worth the purchase price.
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This book is an actual diary of Nikki Sixx, the songwriter and band member of Motley Crue. The diary entries are for a single year in his life, a year where he basically was addicted to heroin and abusing cocaine and alcohol.

What I found to be quite interesting about this book is the format. The diary entries are interspersed with commentary from people who knew Sixx at the time - his mother, his bandmates, his manager, friends, etc. It also uses Sixx's lyrics to accentuate the messaging, show more and it is interesting to see how his lyrics mirror his life.

When taken holistically, the diary paints a picture of what can happen when a child who feels abandoned meets up with drugs and fame. Even without the drugs, Sixx would be an interesting character, but this books really feels honest and downright scary.

It's quite amazing that Motley Crue was successful given the absolutely disgusting and abhorrent behavior that went on (and I'm not that easily disgusted).

These diaries are very, very raw - - so you will not enjoy this book if you are squeamish. It's also punctuated with a lot of artwork and photos which I think Sixx actually did/pulled together, but which were extremely difficult to see on my Kindle. Not a great book for the Kindle actually - - I'm thinking that if you are a Kindle owner, it would be better to get this one in some other format.

All in all, I found these diaries pretty gripping, and I will say that they left enough unanswered questions for me that I have this strong desire to buy another book or two about the Crue (which I never listened to) and the band mates. Morbid curiosity on my part I guess!!
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The Heroin Diaries ♦ Nikki Sixx | Rezension

Eigentlich müsste Nikki Sixx tot sein! Und das schon seit vielen Jahren. Mit seiner Autobiographie The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star erzählt er eindringlich, mit unsagbar viel Gefühl und einer Prise Humor, wie er dem Tod von der Schippe springen konnte. Ich habe dieses Buch in drei verschiedenen Ausführungen gelesen: der erste Auflage, einer Auflage 10 Jahre später (Ten Year Anniversary) und von Nikki Sixx show more selbst gelesen als AudioBook.



The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

Du denkst, der Lebensstil eines großen Rock’n’Roll-Stars auf dem Höhepunkt seines Ruhms ist nichts anderes als luxuriöse Dekadenz und lustige Zeiten, oder? Nun, das ist es und das ist es nicht. Denn wenn du dich nie mit deinen Schmerzen der Kindheit befasst hast, scheint der Kampf mit Depressionen und einer erdrückenden Einsamkeit und dem Leben auf der Straße endlos und leer zu sein, und du behandelst dich selbst mit Sex und Drogen. Jedenfalls war dies so für Nikki Sixx und die Dinge sind schnell aus dem Ruder gelaufen und wurden zu seinem schlimmsten Albtraum.

[…] why I was angry and confused for all those years. I lived my life being told different stories: some true, some lies, and I still don’t know which is which. Children are born innocent. At birth, we are very much like a new hard drive – no viruses, no bad information, no crap that’s been downloaded into it yet. It’s what we feed into that hard drive, or in my case „head drive“ that starts the corruption of the files.

- Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star




Nikki Sixx, Bassist und Hauptsongwriter bei Mötley Crüe, hatte es in den 80ern geschafft.
Er hatte alles. Ruhm, Geld, Alkohol, Drogen, Mädchen und nebenbei entwickelte er eine Sucht, die sein Leben mehrfach fast beendete und ihn zu einem wütenden, paranoiden und gefährlichen Kerl machte.
Ob ich es ihm abkaufe, dass er während dieser Zeit, 1987, ein Tagebuch führte? Ich weiß es nicht, aber ich habe diese Tatsache einfach hinten angestellt. Denn seine Geschichte ist so schwer zu lesen. Es hat mir schier das Herz gebrochen, wie er seine Selbstzerstörung, seine Depression, sein Ego und seine schlechte Einstellung im Allgemeinen beschreibt. Auch die schrecklichen, rücksichtslosen Dinge, die er getan hat, wenn er unter Drogen stand (sofern er sich erinnern kann!) lassen ihn oft wie das größte Arschloch der Welt erscheinen. Und doch geht es in The Heroin Diaries um einen Menschen, der verzweifelt um sein Leben kämpft und dies trotz aller Widrigkeiten.

Ich wusste bereits, bevor ich das Buch gelesen habe, dass Nikki Sixx in den 80en schwer drogensüchtig war, was daran liegt, dass ich schon seit vielen Jahren ein Fan der Band Mötley Crüe bin. Umso schmerzhafter war es das Buch zu lesen, denn es ist so brutal ehrlich, dass ich das Gefühl hatte emotional alles mitzuerleben. Ich stürzte mit ihm ab, umklammerte unter Paranoia mit ihm das Schrotgewehr und fühlte seine Einsamkeit ganz tief in mir. Eine Einsamkeit, deren Kälte nicht zu erklären ist, aber sie zerfrisst dich von Innen heraus.

When you die, every single muscle in your body hurts. Your body has closed down because it thinks it’s done, and when it gets rebooted, every inch of you hurts. Plus I’d had the shit beaten out of me with a baseball bat.
- Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star


Nach jedem Tagebucheintrag gibt es Kommentare von seinem aktuellen Ich und anderen ‚Weggefährten der damaligen Zeit. Auch finden sich Auszüge aus (teils unveröffentlichten) Songtexten und Poesie zwischen den Einträgen. Diese Ergänzungen seiner Freunde und Bekannten, sowie seine Texte erweitern das Gesamtbild und sind oft furchtbar schmeichelhaft.

Ich muss sagen, es war mutig von ihm, dieses Buch zu veröffentlichen und sich Jahre später öffentlich mit seiner Drogensucht auseinanderzusetzen und heute, nach 40 Jahren im Musikbusiness hat er seine wahre Bestimmung darin gefunden, den Drogen den Kampf anzusagen.

Zitate aus „The Heroin Diaries“

The dying could be easy…it was the living that I didn’t know if I could do…
- Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star


When You’ve lost it all….that’s when you realize that Life is Beautiful.”
- Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star


[…] only way to be truly alive is to confront your mortality…
- Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries – A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star


Fazit

Es bedarf einer gehörigen Portion Mut sich mit einem Tagebuch aus der schlimmsten Zeit des eigenen Lebens an die Öffentlichkeit zu wagen. Dies ist ein einmaliger, trauriger, erschreckender, faszinierender und abgründiger Einblick in das Leben einen Rock Stars der 80er Jahre.

Wenn du dich auch nur ansatzweise für die sexuellen Handlungen und Heldentaten des Straßenlebens und den verheerend langsamen Weg eines Mannes zur Genesung aus der Drogensucht interessierst, dann wirst du um dieses Buch nicht herumkommen.

©theartofreading.de
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Associated Authors

Mick. Mars Guitarist, Songwriter / Guitarist
Tommy Lee Drummer, Songwriter / Drummer
Vince Neil Singer
John Corabi Songwriter / Singer
Jason Brice Contributor
Niclas Nilsson Translator

Statistics

Works
12
Also by
1
Members
3,324
Popularity
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Rating
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Reviews
87
ISBNs
72
Languages
9
Favorited
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