Hooligan’s Holiday comes to an end: Mötley Crüe plays final show in Los Angeles

On New Year’s Eve, American rock (hair-metal, if you prefer) band Mötley Crüe played its final show… ever. Ably assisted by Alice Cooper as opening act, the band kicked off its ‘Final Tour’ in July last year and two legs, five continents and 158 shows later – the last three of which were at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, the party has finally come to an end.

A look back at #TheFinalShow through the eyes of the fan photos via @CrowdAlbum... https://t.co/I63zsphlw5

— Mötley Crüe (@MotleyCrue) January 2, 2016

At least that’s what we’re given to believe. [caption id=“attachment_2568848” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image courtesy: @thevinceneil/Twitter[/caption] Don’t forget Kiss, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest are just a small selection of a handful of acts that played a farewell tour, and soon returned to the stage. But despite a near-35-year existence since inception in 1981, the period between 1983 (with the release of Shout at the Devil) and 1992 (when Vince Neil left/was asked to leave the band) was arguably when Crüe was most exciting, dangerous and relevant. It was during this period that the band put out its best music, made its worst choices (bassplayer Nikki Sixx suffered two heroin overdoses, singer Vince Neil drove drunk and caused the death of Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas ‘Razzle’ Dingley, and the band hit new heights of international drug and booze-addled decadence) and captured the attention of fellow agent of self-destruction Ozzy Osbourne. It was an opening slot on Ozzy’s world tour of 1984 that helped the Crüe grab the world’s ear. And the rest is history. After over two subsequent decades (since the band’s golden era) of experiments with sobriety, guitarist Mick Mars’ battle with ankylosing spondylitis, drummer Tommy Lee’s penchant for horrible projects (Methods of Mayhem and Rockstar: Supernova, anyone?) new band members, new directions, lots and lots of lawsuits, new (and old) marriages, even more lawsuits and questionable live performances, it’s time to say thank you for the memories, Tommy, Nikki, Mick and Vince. And to honour Mötley Crüe and its contribution to their music and indeed, lives, members of Slipknot, Anthrax, Disturbed, Greenday and even Kenny G himself paid tribute to the band in the video below. Don’t miss Alice Cooper playing darts. No, honestly.