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On This Day: Mötley Crüe Headlined Historic Venue in 1989 Under an Especially Phallic Band Name, Because of Course They Did

On October 5, 1989, Mötley Crüe played a secret warm-up show ahead of a world tour and filmed a new music video in the process.

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By 1989, the members of Mötley Crüe had been through hell and back. Especially bassist Nikki Sixx, who had one too many close encounters with death. On December 23, 1987, Nikki Sixx technically died for about two minutes during a drug overdose. Following this near-fatal experience, Sixx entered rehab in January 1988, but it didn’t quite stick just yet. He and drummer Tommy Lee went so far as to inject Jack Daniel’s into their veins when they realized this was the lowest of their lows. One year later, in January 1989, all four members of the rock group entered rehab together.

After rehab, the band agreed to record their next album in Vancouver, far away from the LA lifestyle that placed them in rehab. On September 1, 1989, Mötley Crüe released their fifth studio album,........

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