Tommy Lee’s volatile temper and erotic exploits have made him a household name, but will rock ‘n’ roll’s mayhem man ever be able to keep his foot out of his mouth long enough to be taken seriously?
Never A Dull Moment with Tommy Lee
Tommy Lee will turn 41 in October. Tattoos and piercings aside, he looks like an adult, and he has been tried and convicted as an adult. Yet the former drummer for the multiplatinum cock rockers Mötley Crüe is still very much a child. Cursed with a hair-trigger temper, a wandering eye, and, now, barren marketability, “T-Bone” has traversed the live wire from fame to infamy.
The instant that Lee wed Baywatch beauty Pamela Anderson in 1995 — his second marriage; his first wife was Heather Locklear — he also coupled with ignominy. No longer simply the behemoth backbeat behind the Crüe, T-Bone became daily prey for paparazzi, who knew snapping a few shots of the Lees would press Tommy’s buttons. In 1996 he made two photogs pay for his irascibility with a rock through one offender’s car window and a full takedown of the other.
When Tommy and Pamela were together, it seemed like not a week went by that he wasn’t being pilloried on tabloid TV shows or adding ink to the police blotter. The media’s interest in the Lees climaxed — so to speak — in 1997, when a stolen home video documenting myriad sexual trysts between the pair surfaced and was later mass-marketed by the Internet Entertainment Group. To date, it’s the best-selling adult video of all time.
But what the video failed to capture was a deteriorating marriage: In February 1998, Pamela apparently lit Tommy’s short fuse during a domestic dispute, and the drummer wound up on the wrong end of a spousal-abuse arrest. He later served almost four months in the pen for attacking his by-then-estranged wife. He rejoined a fatigued Crüe, then, briefly, reunited with Pamela.
Both of the tempestuous relationships would soon end: Tommy bid adieu to the Crüe in May 1999 and to Pamela, for the last time, less than a year later. He wanted to concentrate on a solo career, but the public wasn’t buying it — literally. Although his first solo outfit, Methods of Mayhem, outsold the Crüe’s first sans-Lee album, New Tattoo, Tommy’s was simply the lesser of two evils. A second solo album, Never a Dull Moment, marketed under the more readily identifiable moniker Tommy Lee, received an even worse reception, selling a third as well as its predecessor. And a sagging solo career wasn’t the worst of it.
At a June 2001 birthday party for Brandon, the older of T-Bone’s two sons, four-year-old Daniel Karven Veres drowned in Lee’s backyard swimming pool. Lee called 911 for help and said, “There’s a big pool party here, and no one was paying attention for a minute.” That sentence alone was enough for the child’s parents to file a wrongful-death civil suit against Tommy, and to provide more ammunition for Pamela in the child-custody dispute.
The media became a public forum for mudslinging between Tommy and Pamela. Tommy claimed Pamela was an unfit mother who neglected her children and partied too hard with her new beau, Kid Rock. Pamela said Tommy gave her hepatitis C (a claim that Tommy denies), and that both their children feared not only water since Daniel Veres’s death, but feared their father too. It wasn’t until January 2003 that a resolution was reached in the dispute, with the former couple agreeing to share custody of Brandon, now six, and Dylan, four.
Following the dismal sales of Never a Dull Moment, MCA Records failed to exercise its option on a third album; once again, Tommy is a free agent. But don’t tell that to Mayte Garcia, ex-wife of Prince and, now, Tommy’s fiancée. The couple lives together in Tommy’s Malibu home — the site of the drowning — which, at the time of our interview, was for sale. Tommy, attempting to move on in every phase of his life, told Penthouse, “It just looks like some flat, clean road ahead, which is pretty cool.” We’ll have to wait to see if the rocker can outgrow his endless tantrum stage.
Tommy Lee on…
The animosity between him and Pamela
That was some serious stuff, and everyone was watching their p’s and q’s. When you’re sitting in front of a judge and he’s making decisions on what you and your children’s lives are like — at least for the next few years — you’re like, “This is fuckin’ heavy.” So it wasn’t a very good time. It was very stressful, and we both said some stupid things out of fear and anger…. Like that [hepatitis C] kinda shit. It’s like, “Dude, this is retarded.”
We made an agreement that we wouldn’t really talk about each other, so I don’t wanna get into all that. She [does] the same on her end, since people ask her about me.
Kid Rock’s jealousy
I don’t know what his trip is. It’s like, “Chill out, dude. Enjoy yourself.” …We don’t talk. He’s kind of a little puss, but whatever, he’s just gotta get over it.
Tommy’s relationship with the Crüe crew
I spoke to Nikki [Sixx] two days ago. I was like, “Dude, do you talk to Vince [Neil]? Do you talk to your singer?” He’s like, “No, I haven’t spoken to him in like five months.” I’m like, “Who the fuck let him do this stupid-ass show [The Surreal Life]?” …Dude, are him and his manager smoking crack? What are they doing?
I haven’t talked to [Vince] in like five months. The last time I talked to him he was obnoxious, and it was a pretty shitty phone call …. When we first got together as a band, nobody had really turned into a fuckin’ egomaniac yet. I went to school with Vince, and at one point we were fuckin’ really, really great, great friends. Over the course of years, money, and success, I’ve watched several people that were really close to me at one time just completely fuckin’ change into monsters. Vince has the capacity to be a sweet guy, but he’s also — he can be a fuckin’ jerkoff too. We call it LSD — lead-singer disease.
It seems like if there ever was [a chance for a reunion, The Surreal Life] makes it unlikely. When you go and do things like that, they definitely tarnish you…. You are who and what you hang with and associate yourself with. And that show is fuckin’ bunk, man. It’s a bunch of people that aren’t really doing anything anymore…. Dude, Corey Feldman? Come on, man.
If the band should have broken up earlier
I guess fans would probably say [we should have quit after Dr. Feelgood]. For us, at that time, when Vince left at that point, it showed me that the three of us were like, “You know what? Next.” What are we supposed to do, just fuckin’ dissolve? Let one person dictate our future? We’re like, “No way, man.” We started auditioning singers and found [John] Corabi and we were like, “Whoa, this motherfucker can sing his ass off!” All of a sudden we were this brand-new entity, and all inspired again. And to work with someone who was fuckin’ so damn glad to be there was so fresh for us.
Vince used to look at his watch in the studio like he had somewhere else to be. We’re like, “Dude, we’re making a record! What else could be more important than this?” And so working with somebody like [Corabi] was cool. I think it inspired me at that point. Then when Vince came back, I was like, “Hmmm, this is back to the same old kinda shit.” That whole little journey was really the last straw for me to go, “Okay, you know what? I could do this on my own.” I wanna go out and do my own thing and at the end of the day fuckin’ go to sleep with a huge smile on my face.
The new Mötley Crüe
No disrespect toward [Samantha Maloney], but when they got a girl drummer, it was weird. How can you be singing “Girls, Girls, Girls” with a chick? It doesn’t feel right. And then they had Randy [Castillo] and he died. And fuck, I don’t know what they’re gonna do. I haven’t really spoken to Nikki about that.
His best Crüe memory
Winning an American Music Award was great. That was a highlight. Being nominated for a Grammy was a super highlight. … We lost to Jethro Tull …. We were sitting next to the Metallica guys going, “It’s either you guys or us.” … When they announced Jethro Tull, we were trippin’ out.
Going to Russia [in 1989 for the Moscow Music Peace Festival] was a highlight. Obviously, Dr. Feelgood was one of the biggest-selling records for us. That was a highlight. I have some really fuckin’ amazing memories that can’t really ever be tarnished.
His favorite work
I would say my latest record [Never a Dull Moment]. I don’t know why your latest thing you’ve done is the one you’re proudest of. I guess cause it’s where you’re at now. It was probably the most fun to make, and also the hardest to make. The pressure’s all on me instead of splitting it with three other guys, which I miss sometimes.
I have two [Crüe] favorites: Dr. Feelgood and the Corabi record [Mötley Crüe]. Both of them were made up in Canada. For some reason … whenever you leave where you live and go somewhere else, you’re not distracted by anything. You wake up in the morning, and music, it’s the first thing on your mind. Go to the studio. Work, work, work, work, work. Go out to a few bars, party, go to sleep. Wake up, do the same thing. Every day it’s music. No other bullshit.
“[My first tattoo], I was 17. I got Mighty Mouse. It meant a lot to me. He was my childhood fuckin’ hero.”
Drummer or front man?
I’d pick front man, just because I played drums for so long that it’s just such an exciting, new, fresh thing for me, man. And I’m all about keeping things fresh. Otherwise, you’re sitting back going through the motions.
But [sitting in with an established group], that’d be fun. Just like Dave [Grohl] did [with Queens of the Stone Age]. He went and did some tour dates and played some stuff on the record [Songs for the Deaf], and he’s back to doing his thing. I’d do that in a second.
His failed records
Both of those records sold more than the Mötley record they put out [2000’s New Tattoo]. To me, when the Methods of Mayhem record went gold [selling 500,000 copies] and Mötley sold 140,000 copies, I was like, “Whoa. That’s cool, man.” That was really, really cool. Not that there’s any competition or some race, but that was really cool …. I didn’t even listen to [New Tattoo] because the first single they chose [“Hell on High Heels ”] was a fuckin’ old demo that was a reject from the Dr. Feelgood sessions. I was like, “You guys can’t be telling me you haven’t written anything new. That was ’89, dude! … That’s the best thing you got, an old reject from the Dr. Feelgood fuckin’ sessions?”
Replacing Drowning Pool on last summer’s Ozzfest after DP’s lead singer, Dave Williams, died of cardiac arrest.
It was fuckin’ bizarre. It was bizarre when Dave’s mom showed up. She came to the show in Dallas, their hometown. She came onto my tour bus and gave me the biggest fuckin’ hug. And we sat down and talked for probably an hour. And I was really uncomfortable with her — “l’m honored to be here, but I wish it was under different circumstances.” And she said, “Tom, ya know what? I don’t know if you knew this” — and I didn’t really know a whole lot about the guy — “but he was the biggest Crüe fan on the planet. Like you don’t even understand. When he was growing up, you guys were like gods to him. He would be doing somersaults from cloud to cloud right now if he knew you were filling in for him.” And I was just like, “Wow, that’s crazy.” Once she said that, I became a little more comfortable with it. But still, it was a very weird situation.
What’s next
I’m writing some new shit right now. It’s kinda cool. I’m a free agent, which is fun. I started working on new stuff. When it’s ready, when I got what I consider to be the fuckin’ next badass record, then I’ll go playing it for people. Until then I’m not really worried. I’m just doing my thing, and when it’s ready, I’ll shop it. It’s just how I got the deal [with MCA] in the first place.
And I’m also working on music for my fiancee’s record, which is really cool for me as a writer. Just giving me a fuckin’ huge right turn. It’s like R&B, hip-hop, Latin flavors, pop. So for me to write that kind of stuff is cool. It gets me out of that [rock mold] — for me to be like, “Cool, I’ll write this really cool fuckin’ pop song,” and make it for her. It’s been fun, man.
Selling his house
I just wanna start over …. [I have] good memories, bad memories, and just some unfortunate memories that can’t be erased. Every time I walk into the backyard … I’ve had this lady from the Chumash Indian tribe, which is a local tribe in the Malibu area, drain the pool waters and bless the new waters. And I had my kids there. All of us tried to cope with what happened. Dude, I still go out there, and the first thing my eye does is look to where the little boy was lying on the deck when we were trying to pump his heart. You can’t really erase that. You can only try to heal it.
That’s not the main reason I’m moving, though. I have a new girl in my life. It’s just time to start over. But I’m really specifically looking for a house that has a guest house, which I wanna gut and have my studio on the property, but not in the house. Cause right now it’s in the house, and my kids are over a lot now because I’m spending more time with them. And come eight o’clock, when they go to bed, I can’t work. I’m like, “Fuck.” I need a place that can be isolated.
Being famous just for being Tommy Lee
It’s weird because sometimes all the other bullshit seems to outshine your musical efforts. It does fuckin’ freak you out sometimes, and that’s why I told my manager I just wanna go underground. I don’t wanna do anymore fuckin’ shows. I don’t wanna be on TV anymore. I don’t really wanna do anything. I wanna go away and fuckin’ write music and come up for air when I’m done.
[The paparazzi] are still there …. Not so much outside the house, at least that I know of, which is weird. I never even know if they’re out there or not because they wouldn’t make themselves visible if they were. And when I see pictures of my house … I saw some pictures in People magazine mentioning something about my house being up for sale, and I look at the angle of the shot and I know where that picture was taken from. I know those mountains well. I ride my dirt bike up there. My neighbor’s house is way up on the hill. Way up on the driveway by the neighbor’s house is where it was shot from. So I don’t know if people just hang out up there and look for something to happen. That shot’s clearly from the bushes. It’s not a helicopter shot.
And I don’t mind it in public, because it’s open season. But when you’re at your house, it’s fuckin’ weird.
The video
[People] ask about it and I don’t know how to answer. I just kinda look at them like, “You’re a sick fuck.” And all the time girls come up and go, “I saw your video. I saw your video.” And I’m not sure what they expect me to do …. I’m never sure what to say ….
We were awarded a default judgment [in December 2002 against IEG] for — what the fuck was it? — $7 million, something like that. [Editor’s note: It was $741,000 each for Lee and Anderson.] But … I’ve never seen any money from it.
An autobiography
Lonn Friend, he’s writing it. We’re doing it together. We’re meeting with book agents. I just turned 40, so it’s probably a good time in life to time-stamp it with an autobiography.
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band was pretty much about the band. Lonn is like a fucking crowbar. He’s just prying shit out of me. A lot of things legally I’m not supposed to say, but we had some discussions with my manager and stuff that when it’s put together we’ll legally go through it and see what we can and what we can’t do.
We’re gonna go back to Greece, where I was born. We’re gonna start trekking backwards. I’m probably gonna learn a few things about myself I didn’t even know. Cause a lot of times you’re always moving forward, moving forward musically and spiritually and personally, and sometimes you don’t take the time to go back a little bit. And he’s been doing that, and it freaks me out. A lot of times I’ll remember things that I never remembered before, and I’m like, “Lonn, don’t forget about this.” And I’ll send him little notes ….
There’s a bunch of different ideas going through with Lonn. I wanna make it really special. I don’t want it to be like every fuckin’ autobiography that’s out there. I really want it to be the kind of book you can’t put down. Like, off the top of my head, what if Lonn was the wacky fuckin’ tour guide taking you through this journey into Tommyland? Have it be some amusement ride where he walks you through the tunnel of love and you go into all this crazy sexual love shit and then some bumpy-ass roller coaster, which has been my life. Maybe do it like that, where the book’s a ride and not just a fuckin’ read. It’s gotta be that way, because I’m not a big reader, and if it’s not interesting, I don’t have that kind of time.
His latest tattoo:
Mayte’s lips on his neck She actually kissed me here one day, and I was looking in the mirror and I go, “Fuck, what a cool tattoo that would be.” … I brought her with me, and she put some lipstick on and did a couple kisses on a piece of paper, and we just transferred it. … The majority of tattooing is really for you. When I look at these tattoos, I enjoy seeing them. The one on my back I don’t get to see as much, and it’s my favorite tattoo, which kinda sucks. I’m definitely addicted, man …. My son’s always drawing on himself with markers — “Look, Dad, I’m like you.” … [My first tattoo], I was 17. I got Mighty Mouse. It meant a lot to me. He was my childhood fuckin’ hero.
Regrets
I would say no [regrets], because I just feel like all this bullshit and good shit that happens is for a reason. If some of those things didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I don’t really have any regrets, because some of the things almost needed to happen for me to wake up, so I think I’m just gonna say no, but sometimes I feel like there is [something I should regret]. I’d have to really think about that one.
You can find more than you’d ever likely want to know about Tommy Lee and his romantic (and violent) history with any basic Google search, so we saw no reason to favor one suggestion over another. We did want to mention that the biography Tommy talks about in this interview did in fact come out in 2009. We cannot vouch for its literary merit, at least in theory this would be his version of the many, many stories. He also has, of course, the obligatory web site – it too rather illustrative of Tommy’s colorful flair.
