Methods of Mayhem

Metal combo Methods of Mayhem was formed by frontman <a href="spotify:artist:4b9L0p4cMof32XvjwT9YrX">Tommy Lee</a> after quitting his drumming duties in <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">Mötley Crüe</a>. Born <a href="spotify:artist:4b9L0p4cMof32XvjwT9YrX">Thomas Lee Bass</a> on October 3, 1962, in Athens, Greece, he grew up in Los Angeles, co-founding the band <a href="spotify:artist:5taPZzZDGAiN1a12Dkre4o">Christmas</a> with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:39K8vRrNVg2aPafD0kRuhe">Nikki Sixx</a> in 1981; with the subsequent additions of guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:5zSvn5I6wIFwEgFxIIaqJc">Mick Mars</a> and singer <a href="spotify:artist:6prESDxZHvHyqqYsHSn0FE">Vince Neil</a>, the group was renamed <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">Mötley Crüe</a> and immediately became a top attraction on the local hard rock scene. Signing to Elektra in 1983, <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">the Crüe</a> emerged as one of the best-selling and most notorious metal bands of the era, scoring a series of hit albums including 1985's Theatre of Pain, 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls, and 1989's Dr. Feelgood; famed for their glamorously excessive offstage antics as much as their music itself, <a href="spotify:artist:1IOaYT0kBhd9DGymD2gwcL">Lee</a> in particular became steady tabloid fodder in 1986 with his marriage to Dynasty vixen Heather Locklear, a tumultuous relationship which ended in divorce eight years later.

Even as <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">Mötley Crüe</a>'s fortunes waned, <a href="spotify:artist:1IOaYT0kBhd9DGymD2gwcL">Lee</a> remained in the limelight thanks to his 1995 marriage to pin-up Pamela Anderson, a union which produced two children as well as an infamous homemade sex video which became a bestseller. Run-ins with the law were also common: in 1997, he and <a href="spotify:artist:39K8vRrNVg2aPafD0kRuhe">Sixx</a> were arrested after encouraging fans to rush the stage during a concert stop in Phoenix, and a year later <a href="spotify:artist:1IOaYT0kBhd9DGymD2gwcL">Lee</a> was arraigned for assaulting a photographer. Most scandalously, in May 1998, he was sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting Anderson, although the two later reunited. He left <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">Mötley Crüe</a> in 1999, collaborating with rapper TiLo on Methods of Mayhem, an all-star project featuring input from <a href="spotify:artist:165ZgPlLkK7bf5bDoFc6Sb">Limp Bizkit</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6xs3t4VrfszbO3YJg2wLPa">Fred Durst</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5eKLa1xyHLq8ERWmT1CRHj">the Crystal Method</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7dOBabd5O4CvKrg4iriHTM">Kid Rock</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4BeDVC50BVhB0bjQqjbhmt">Mix Master Mike</a>. Signing to MCA, Methods of Mayhem issued their self-titled debut LP in late 1999. The record went platinum, but the group disbanded in 2000, only to be resurrected in 2009. The group’s sophomore effort, A Public Disservice Announcement, was released the following year on Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi