A few days after launching their hard-charging biopic on Netflix, the bad boys of 80s metal, Mötley Crüe, launched a drone loaded with musical gifts to mark the occasion
During the Hollywood red-carpet premiere last week of “The Dirt,” bassist Nikki Sixx took the helm of a quadcopter carrying a payload of DVDs dropped amid a crowd of wild fans.
The DVD include a trailer for the film and four songs recorded exclusively for the film’s soundtrack – “The Dirt (Est. 1981),” a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” “Ride With the Devil” and “Crash and Burn.”
“The Dirt” is a brutally honest window into the good, the bad and the raunchy of the band’s rise, fall and eventual reunion. Sixx said he got the idea for the drone drop after reflecting on the film’s theme.
“I mean — I spent most of my time back then high as a kite, but drones would be a better metaphor for today,” Sixx said. “I’ve been sober for decades now so I feel like – what the hell?”
Crowd-control security had to work extra hard to calm rowdy fans scabbling for the DVDs – a reminder of the many highly publicized high-jinks that defined the band’s reputation.
Compared to tossing furniture from a hotel room window or fisticuffs with unruly crowds, a drone flight seemed pretty tame. Sixx launched three flights to drop more albums before turning the controller over to drummer Tommy Lee. Lee immediately crashed the drone into the side of Gruman’s Hollywood Theater but quickly got the hang of it. “F-ck Yeah! This is awesome!” he said.
“We owe the success of ‘The Dirt’ and everything we’ve done – every album, every tour – to our fans and we wanted to give something back at the premiere that would be fun and still raise a little hell,” said front man Vince Neil.
According to a band press release, record sales were up 2,000 percent and soundtrack topped iTunes All Genre Chart. Spotify downloads shot from 400,000 daily to 3.6 million.
No, they didn’t really… we wish! April Fool’s from all of us Crüe fans at DRONELIFE.
Jason is a longstanding contributor to DroneLife with an avid interest in all things tech. He focuses on anti-drone technologies and the public safety sector; police, fire, and search and rescue.
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