21 years

Nikki Sixx: From Country Boy to Rockstar

Nikki Sixx has already shared his experiences with the scandalous rockers of Mötley Crüe and his drug-laden life afterward in the successful rock biographies "The Dirt" and "The Heroin Diaries." Now, he takes a step further back in his memoirs and reflects on the first 21 years of his life: the time when he was not yet Nikki Sixx, but Franklin Carlton Feranna.

Little Frankie grew up in chaotic circumstances: his father left the family early, his mother struggled with her own demons, and often left the boy with his grandparents, who moved from farm to farm and state to state as laborers. It was a rural life where boys fished or hunted, were passionate about sports, and chased after girls—a life that Frank knew early on was not enough for him. For him, the glam rock of the seventies became an escape route from the chaos of family relationships and provincial narrowness. As a teenager, he hopped on a Greyhound bus and headed to Hollywood.

For a short time, Frank stayed with his uncle, who, as fate would have it, worked in the music industry. And after this connection brought him little more than a stack of records from The Sweet, he continued to forge his own path: In 21 years, he narrates his odyssey to fame with sharp wit and self-irony, recounting tales of filthy basements, small scams, stolen instruments, and lousy jobs. Like a modern Huckleberry Finn, he wanders through a world of beautiful illusions and proves to be a keen observer of the scene in Los Angeles. Many future rock stars cross his path, from Blackie Lawless to Randy Rhoads, while he keeps his eyes on the prize: a band that combines the best of punk, glam, and hard rock to deliver an explosive show. The transformation of the provincial boy Frank Feranna into the rock star Nikki Sixx is truly fascinating.