Hipgnosis Acquires Song Catalog of Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx
The deal gives Hipgnosis 100% of Sixx's writer's share of performing rights organization income and income from SoundExchange respect to the catalogue, which includes 305 songs.
Music IP investment company Hipgnosis Songs Fund has acquired the song catalog of Mötley Crüe founding member, bassist and lead songwriter Nikki Sixx. The deal gives Hipgnosis 100% of Sixx’s writer’s share of performing rights organization income and writer’s royalties from SoundExchange respect to the catalogue, which includes 305 songs.
With Mötley Crüe, Sixx has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and achieved seven platinum or multi-platinum certifications, nine Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, 22 Top 40 mainstream rock hits and six Top 20 singles. The band, which released its debut album Too Fast for Love in 1981, broke through to the mainstream two years later with their album Shout at the Devil, which included hits like “Looks That Kill” and “Too Young to Fall in Love,” helping solidify it as one of the most successful heavy metal bands of the 1980s.
“Mötley Crüe were single-handedly responsible for the Los Angeles rock explosion of the 1980s, paving the way for everyone that came in their wake and putting rock music back onto Top 40 radio and the pop charts,” Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis said in a statement. “Nikki was the catalyst and architect of all of that and we are delighted to welcome him to the Hipgnosis family.”
Mötley Crüe released its most recent album, Saints of Los Angeles, in 2008, and last year contributed four new songs to the soundtrack for the band’s own Netflix biopic The Dirt. Outside of Mötley Crüe, Sixx has co-written and produced for artists like Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper and Meat Loaf, and in 2007, founded hard rock band Sixx:A.M. with DJ Ashba and James Michael.
The announcement is the latest in a string of high-profile purchases by Hipgnosis, which has recently included the catalogs (outright or a stake in) of Wu-Tang Clan‘s RZA, Blondie, Barry Manilow, Dion “No I.D.” Wilson and more.
“Merck and his team at Hipgnosis are an artist-friendly, forward-thinking company,” Sixx said in a statement. “Looking to the future I am grateful that they will treat my music with great care and respect.”
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