By now, rock fans are basking in the news that Motley Crue will reunite next summer when the band kicks off a stadium tour with Def Leppard and special guests Poison and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Interestingly enough, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx recently explained that concertgoers have Netflix biopic The Dirt to thank for instigating the group's comeback in the first place. The movie, released in March, first got the band back together to write a few songs for the film's soundtrack. As Sixx put it, that got the ball rolling on bigger plans, even though Motley Crue announced their supposed final tour dates back in 2014.

"Honestly, I don't think any of us thought, when we were on 'The Final Tour,' we would ever get back together," Sixx explained in a statement picked up by Blabbermouth on Wednesday (Dec. 4). "We weren't really getting along at that point. We had been together 35 years, and it had been a lot of years on the road. I don't think we took a lot of time for ourselves off; we were just constantly touring for all that time. And when it came to the end, we broke the band up and everybody went their own ways."

He continues, "I think we really needed that break, and it was during the making of The Dirt movie, we started working on the script, started being on the set, we started hanging out again together. And I think we really started to realize — without even talking about the music — how much we missed each other. And then that got us to go in the recording studio, which is where the whole thing always starts for all of us. And we wrote a bunch of new music, and had a blast in the studio. And then the movie took off. And our fans were super stoked, but we also got a new generation of people. And that kind of started the conversation. But it really was from the heart. We missed each other, to be honest with you, and we missed being in a band together."

Inklings about 2020's "The Stadium Tour" started to surface last month before Motley Crue confirmed the rumors were true. Poison's Bret Michaels said he 'kept throwing good vibes' for the Crue-led trek to come together, and a fan petition had earlier hoped for the same. But Motley guitarist Mick Mars had to make peace with the fact that he once promised free concert tickets should the band reunite.

Of course, Motley Crue's storied career has its fair share of ups and downs. Still, former Skid Row and Saigon Kick drummer Phil Varone said listeners who are mad about the reunion should be ashamed of themselves.

Amid all that, Mars confirmed he's targeting April 2020 for the release of his new solo album, and Motley Crue's Vince Neil underwent hand surgery for something the singer referred to as "Viking Disease."

Motley Crue Albums Ranked

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