The Man Behind the Success of Motley Crue
Thomas Lee Bass, popularly known as Tommy Lee, is a U.S. artist, drummer, and founding partner of the band Mötley Crüe. He has done many solo ventures and created‘Methods of Mayhem’. He got familiar with Nikki Sixx, a bassist, whose groups ‘Sister’ and ‘London’ played for a similar audience. Sixx was conceptualizing a band from the combination of ‘Sister’ and was inspired by Lee’s drumming skill. During this period, Lee left his last name and came to be known as “T-bone”. It was because of thelean physique and the 6′ 2½″ height!
When ‘London’ separated in 1981, Sixx and Lee chose to make another band. A short time later, guitar-player Mick Mars also joined them. Looking for a dynamic singer, Lee approached vocalist, Vince Neil. It is because he knew Neil from his high school days. Neil joined the band, and Mötley Crüe came into existence.
- Early life
Lee was born on 3rd October 1962, in Athens, Greece. His mother was Vassiliki “Voula” Papadimitriou and his father, David Lee Thomas Bass. He was a U.S. Armed force sergeant.Athena is hisyounger sister, and she also became a drummer. When Lee was roughly one year old, his family moved to the United States andgot settled in California.At the age of four years, Lee got his first drum sticks and his first legitimate drum kit at the time when he was an adolescent.
He didn’t complete his secondary schooling to seek a profession in musicthat started with ‘Suite 19’, a Los Angeles club band of that time. As an adolescent, he was impressed by ‘Led Zeppelin’, ‘Cheap Trick’, ‘AC/DC’, ‘Van Halen’, ‘Kiss’, and ‘Sweet’.
- Career
Lee used a few quirks during his performances, like having his whole unit rotating and turning, or having the whole kit skim over thecrowd while he kept on playing! Lee returned once with Motley Crüe to complete the tour of‘Crüe’s Greatest Hits’ in 1999. With the prevalence of rap metal, he later created a band, ‘Methods of Mayhem’. The band produced an album that year and made a tour to support it.
Althoughhe parted ways from Mötley Crüe, he participated in the band’s 2001 autobiography that was aptly named, ‘The Dirt’. In 2005, ‘Tommyland’ hit the stands, that is his autobiography. His second independent solo collection, ‘Tommyland: The Ride’ also released the same year. During the 2009 Download Festival, in a meeting held behind the stage, Lee affirmed that he was working on his third solo collection. Tommy Lee was on the drums for Ludacris during the 2010 BET Awards in June 2010. Lee played the drums for‘the Smashing Pumpkins’in 2014 for their album,‘Monuments to an Elegy’.
- Net Worth
His total asset is about $70 million. His success with Motley Crue makes up most of Lee’s riches. Lee made his millions on collection deals, live exhibitions, and sovereignties. Lee also gathered success with his autobiography in 2004.
- Unknown facts
He showed up in the Netflix narrative, “The American Meme”, with his girlfriend of that time, Brittany Furlan.
Lee has married multiple times, the third time being with the Baywatch sensation, Pamela Anderson.
Lee is a supporter of PETA and animal rights. Lee sent a letter in 2013 to the Alberta Premier, Alison Redford. He requested her to end the Calgary Stampede’s chuckwagon races that have brought about the demise of 50 horses from 1986.