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Oct. 20, 2021 – “The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx” (Hachette, 224 pp., out now) lists both Sixx and Frank Feranna – the musician’s real name – as its authors. It’s a fitting duality for the superstar Mötley Crüe bassist, who centers his memoir on the formative years of his life.

Unlike “The Dirt,” the 2001 Mötley Crüe bestseller and subsequent Netflix filmthat chronicled the sordid shenanigans of one of hard rock’s most cherished bunch of hell-raisers, “The First 21” is a deeply personal plunge into Sixx’s dysfunctional upbringing.

An absentee mother. A youth spent with his grandparents on a farm in Idaho. Learning to play bass and moving to Los Angeles to live with his aunt and uncle (then the president of Capitol Records). Clerking in record stores and selling used lightbulbs. And eventually joining a band with Blackie Lawless – later of W.A.S.P. – and kick-starting a life of rock ‘n’ roll mayhem. “The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx” (Hachette, 224 pp., out now) lists both Sixx and Frank Feranna – the musician’s real name – as its authors. It’s a fitting duality for the superstar Mötley Crüe bassist, who centers his memoir on the formative years of his life.

Unlike “The Dirt,” the 2001 Mötley Crüe bestseller and subsequent Netflix filmthat chronicled the sordid shenanigans of one of hard rock’s most cherished bunch of hell-raisers, “The First 21” is a deeply personal plunge into Sixx’s dysfunctional upbringing.

An absentee mother. A youth spent with his grandparents on a farm in Idaho. Learning to play bass and moving to Los Angeles to live with his aunt and uncle (then the president of Capitol Records). Clerking in record stores and selling used lightbulbs. And eventually joining a band with Blackie Lawless – later of W.A.S.P. – and kick-starting a life of rock ‘n’ roll mayhem.

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