Motley Crue Accuse Kiss of Stealing Their ‘Grand Finale’
Nikki Sixx has accused Kiss of copying Motley Crue’s stage production, claiming that the "grand finale" being used on Kiss’ current 'End of the Road' tour is "an exact reenactment" of what Crue did on their own farewell trek in 2014-15.
Sixx first took to Instagram yesterday to voice his displeasure. The bassist posted photos of the Crue's Final Tour stage set, featuring he and singer Vince Neil being carried far over the crowd by two gigantic cranes. In the caption Sixx wrote, "If ya wanna see an exact reenactment of this just go to the #LosAngeles Forum tonight," alluding to Kiss’ performance that evening.
This evening Sixx doubled down on Twitter, this time posting side-by-side pictures of himself and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons performing on the cranes. "Wow. Our body wasn’t even cold before they took this exact grande finale from our tour," he wrote. "Might not matter to Kiss fans but it does to Crue fans. I dug their music when I was a little kid and it was cool to Co-Headline together a few years but this disappoints me."
Sixx isn’t the first Crue member to call out these similarities. Previously, drummer Tommy Lee tweeted a video of Simmons and Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer performing aboard the cranes in question. In the caption, Lee commented, "Dayum @KISSOnline this sure looks identical to @MotleyCrue's final tour."
Kiss and Motley Crue previously teamed up 2012-13's co-headlining 'The Tour' trek. Kiss' over-the-top '70s stage shows were a big influence on future generations of bands, and Sixx has previously expressed his gratitude to the band for taking Motley Crue out on one of their first big tours. "They gave us our first taste of playing up and down the (West) coast and on big stages," he said in 2012. "We’ll always remember that. They’re fond memories.”
In 2014, Sixx took Simmons to task over his insensitive comments on depression. In 2016 they tangled again after the Kiss star referred to Prince's death as “pathetic”. Sixx stated at the time that Simmons' "heartless and uneducated remarks" showed "why he's not my hero anymore or anybody's. I think that he is an overrated, lucky guy that dresses like a clown. He wrote some good songs, but hasn't in a long time, and loves to brag about himself."
After being criticized for his comments on Prince by others including bandmate Paul Stanley, Simmons apologized, prompting Sixx to offer an olive branch. "Gene's a very opinionated man, so am I," he told Loudwire at the time. "I'll be honest with you: I think we just kind of look like a bunch of old women fighting at this point."