Rock Euphoria

Nikki Sixx has become one heck of a story-teller over the years. With three books under his belt, he recently released his fourth book “The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx,” which explains in detail, his trajectory on becoming one of the most badass rockstars the last two decades has ever seen.

The book chronicles his journey from a young Idaho farmboy to the vivacious mastermind behind one of the best hard rock band my generation has ever seen, Mötley Crüe.

Born Franklin Carlton Feranna on December 11, 1958, he spent much of his childhood with his grandparents, who raised him. Through his teens, he bounced from house to house, being raised between his grandparents and his mother. Eventually, as fate would have it, he took a Greyhound bus and headed to Hollywood.

“This was my great awakening, and dreams were no longer dreams; they became my divining rod. I was an idealistic misfit, empowered by the audacity of faith and a reckless determination to do it my way. Punk rock became my professor in a school with no rules, only teaching the lesson that you need no lessons and that every person has a voice to be heard, no matter the sound. I have built a life on this notion and blindly followed it with undying conviction.”

That passage sums up the fire that Dave Grohl just lit under my ass. For years, I have always felt that music is what drove me. Every life memory, every challenging time, every major moment of my life had music. It’s almost as if my entire life had a soundtrack built-in.

The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl