The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx

Sixx, bass player of the seminal metal band Mötley Crüe, follows his searing memoir, The Heroin Diaries, with an equally exhilarating look at the first 21 years of his life. Born Frank Ferrana in Idaho in 1958, he lived “paycheck to paycheck” with his mother and called a number of places home, until he moved in with his grandparents and settled into a more normal adolescence, playing football and blaring his music too loudly. After a stint in Seattle, where he saw Led Zeppelin perform for the first time, he moved to Los Angeles at age 18 to pursue a career in music. His story picks up speed as he recalls a high-octane era of working dead-end jobs by day and trying to make it in the competitive Hollywood music scene by night (“I was always thinking, always strategizing, always out at the clubs”), and spinning through a revolving door of lead singers and gritty venues in the late ’70s with his band, London, before finally founding Mötley Crüe in 1981. He also shares the humorous origin story of his stage name, Nikki Sixx—which he stole from another front man (after also stealing the singer’s girlfriend). Fans will relish this passionate look at the man behind the hair. Agent: Chris Nilsson, 10th Street Entertainment. (Oct.)