Why Producer Tom Werman Says Sixx’s Autobiograpy is Inaccurate

Released in 2007 and co-written by Ian Gittins, Nikki Sixx’s debut autobiography – The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star – chronicled numerous aspects of the bassist’s life between Christmas 1986 and Christmas 1987. According to former Mötley Crüe producer Tom Werman, the book is full of falsehoods that he’s never “agreed with.”

Werman – who worked on 1983’s Shout at the Devil, 1985’s Theatre of Pain and 1987’s Girls, Girls, Girls – was recently a guest on the Artists On Record Starring ADIKA Live! podcast (uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 12). Naturally, he talked about many things regarding Mötley Crüe (as well as Werman’s upcoming book, Turn It Up!: My Time Making Hit Records In The Glory Days Of Rock Music).

When host Stefan Adika asked about Mötley Crüe’s autobiography and subsequent film adaptation – The Dirt – Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band – Werman reflected:

[It was] pretty fictitious. You know, there’s facts, but it’s always stretched and I was relieved not to be in that book and that movie. I was—Nikki [SIxx] slagged my in ‘The Heroin Diaries.’ Nothing he said I agreed with; we both recalled things different. He said [that] he wound up producing most of Vince’s [Neil] vocals. Not true. Other things like that, [such as] I was on the phone all the time. I had a notebook that I was—you know, if I was that bad, how did I get 23 gold and platinum records? Or, why didn’t they fire me . . . instead of having me do a second and a third album?0It isn’t easy having done stuff—they take shots, you know? They take shots at you. I’m not saying it was perfect. I partied with the boys, but The Heroin Dairies, specifically, was probably subject to inaccuracy because it was written by a guy who was on heroin. It figures.

You can watch the full clip below.

READ MORE: Nikki Sixx Recalls ‘Seamless’ Transition to John 5 in His First Motley Crue Rehearsal

This isn’t the first time Werman fired back at Sixx, either, as his latest comments refer back to a letter he wrote to The New York Times in February 2008 regarding writer Alan Light’s review of The Heroin Diaries. In it, Werman stated that Light’s “description . . . of the heroin-besotted Nikki Sixx as ‘bratty and self-destructive’ is on the money, but having been there and having read the book, I would go with ‘totally deluded’ or perhaps ‘stunningly inaccurate.’”

He elaborated:

As the producer of three Mötley Crüe albums over a four-year period, I found Sixx’s allegation that in the recording studio he did ‘all the work’ with Vince Neal’s vocals while I chatted idly on the phone not only humorous but pure fiction. If this distortion of reality is the result of Sixx’s past heroin habit, then his diary is truly nothing more than a pipe dream, and the events to which this book refers may simply be the needle-induced fantasies of an attention-starved junkie.

As recalled by Blabbermouth, Sixx responded:

Tom Werman being worried about what I said in my book about him is just so narcissistic and self-centered. I’m sorry if he got his feelings hurt but I feel that I was kind to Mr. Werman by withholding things from the book that would have jeopardized his marriage and his job security with Elektra at the time. . . . If Mr. Werman wants me to publish a complete accounting of the facts, I’ll gladly write a nice short story in the form of a blog that will expose his actions during all the MÖTLEY CRÜE sessions that would make very interesting reading for his wife.

During the following weeks, the two men continued to go argue over the matter.

So, what do you think of Werman’s newest claims? Let us know!

As for his memoir – Turn It Up! – it arrives on Nov. 21, 2023 via Jawbone Press and promises to include tales not only about Mötley Crüe but also notable artists such as Jeff Beck, Twisted Sister, Poison, Cheap Trick and more. You can preorder it here.

Last month (Sept. 23), Vince Neil’s solo set at the Oklahoma State Fair was cut short due to an active shooter “in a nearby area on the fair grounds.” Around the same time, guitarist John 5 proudly stated that recording new songs with Mötley Crüe was “incredible.”

Producer Tom Werman Discusses Nikki Sixx’s ‘The Heroin Diaries’ on Artists On Record podcast