By: Brooke Johnpier
Sixx:A.M. was an American hard rock band that was active during the years 2007-2021. It was formed in 2007 by Nikki Sixx, DJ Ashba and James Michael. The name is a combination of all three of their last names (Sixx, Ashba and Michael).
The band started off early by releasing their first album the same year they formed, on August 21, 2007. “The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack” (based off of Sixx’s autobiography bearing the same name and meant to be a companion to the book) would have one of the band’s most popular songs, “Life is Beautiful,” which would peak at number two on the U.S.’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number 25 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
After doing a tour that was never supposed to happen during the summer of 2008, the band got back together and worked on some new music. On May 3, 2011, Sixx released another book and Sixx:A.M. released their second album to go along with it. “This Is Gonna Hurt” included four hits: “This Is Gonna Hurt,” “Lies of the Beautiful People,” “Are You with Me” (also known as “Are You with Me Now” and my favorite Sixx:A.M. song), and “Skin.” The album debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Hard Rock charts. It sold 30,000 copies in the first week.
Three years later, Sixx:A.M. released their third studio album, and this one was stand-alone and not affiliated with anything Sixx did outside of his music career. “Modern Vintage” was released on October 7, 2014, and only had two hits: “Stars,” and “Hyperventilate.” Topping the Billboard Hard Rock charts, “Modern Vintage” peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, and number 5 on the Billboard Rock charts.
Two years after their third album, they released two albums that would correlate with each other. “Prayers for the Damned” was the first of the two-volume series and had one hit: “Rise.” Prayers for the Blessed came out seven months later and had three hits along with a cover: “Barbarians (Prayers for the Blessed),” “We Will Not Go Quietly,” “Maybe It’s Time,” and “Without You,” the cover of the song by Badfinger.
In 2020, Sixx:A.M. collaborated with Corey Taylor, Joe Elliott, Brantley Gilbert, Ivan Moody and Slash on a re-do of their hit song “Maybe It’s Time.” Calling it “Artists for Recovery,” all the streaming royalties went to organizations that help guide people towards sobriety.
A year later, Sixx:A.M. released their last album, “Hits,” which included four new tracks, and two songs that had been re-done for the sake of the album. The four new tracks were “The First 21” (based off of Sixx’s latest book), “Talk To Me” (Radio Mix), “Penetrate,” and “Waiting All My Life.” The two songs that were re-done were “Skin” (Rock Mix) and “Life is Beautiful” (Piano Vocal). “Skin” was originally a slow song and “Life is Beautiful” was originally a hard rock song. Personally, I like the re-done songs better than the originals.
After “Hits” was released, Sixx:A.M.’s social media, as well as the members’ media pages, went quiet about the band. Since Sixx’s main band, Mötley Crüe, got back together and was preparing to go on tour in 2022, it was revealed that Sixx:A.M. was officially done.
On a personal level, Sixx:A.M. is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I’m so sad I didn’t discover them in time to go see them in concert. I love at least one song from each of their albums, and if you have a chance, do listen to them.
You won’t regret it, I promise!
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