Nikki Sixx Fires Back at Godsmack Drummer Amid Ongoing Feud Over M tley Cr e Live Performances

Nikki Sixx responded Friday to comments made by Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin about M tley Cr e's live performances, calling Larkin a "hater" in a post on X.

Larkin, who played drums for Godsmack from 2002 to 2024, discussed recent criticism of Mike Mangini-Godsmack's new drummer-on his YouTube channel. During the video, Larkin alleged that M tley Cr e uses a click track during live shows. He also claimed that Sixx sometimes appears to be singing when his voice is heard on a backing track.

Sixx addressed Larkin's claims on X, writing, "Who's this Shannon Larkin hater? It's funny how so many B- and C-level bands seem to spend more time talking about us than writing songs people actually remember. Maybe it's jealousy, maybe it's insecurity, maybe ticket sales are a little slow. Either way, borrowing someone else's spotlight has never been much of a long-term career strategy."

Sixx continued, "I genuinely feel for musicians who never figured out that the best publicity is writing great songs-over and over again, decade after decade for fans not critics. It reminds me of the endless podcast crowd that builds an audience by talking about everyone else instead of creating something worth talking about. Anyway, maybe he needs to take a nap before he does more press."

Larkin's original comments came as he discussed Wade Murff, who briefly played drums for Godsmack before Mangini joined. Larkin said Godsmack does not use click tracks or backing tracks during live shows, unlike some bands. He added, "You see Nikki Sixx up there. He's not really singing, he looks away, but you still hear his voice. Well, it's a track playing. But in order for those things to happen, the band has to be on a click track - and the band doesn't have to. It's just us, the drummer. We're on a click so it's always the same every night."

Earlier this year, M tley Cr e won a legal dispute with former guitarist Mick Mars. Mars had accused the band of playing to backing tracks, but later retracted those statements in court.

Tension between M tley Cr e and Godsmack dates back to 2009, when Godsmack opened for M tley Cr e on the Cr e Fest 2 tour. Larkin said in a 2011 interview that issues with M tley Cr e's security led to bad blood, claiming Godsmack's guests were mistreated backstage. "Motley Crue's security were real weird with our guests getting backstage, like our guests might want to look at Motley Crue. Our guests were there to see us and they didn't care about Motley Crue," Larkin said at the time.

Godsmack later released the 2010 song "Cryin' Like a Bitch," which frontman Sully Erna confirmed was inspired by their experience on the tour. Erna said in a video, "There's definitely been some rock star garbage on this tour that we just have never seen in our career. This was the first time that I felt like, 'If there's gonna be some people that are gonna treat other people a certain way, then I'm gonna go out there every night and make sure that we make you look old and fat and go home with a nice big fat paycheck.'"

The two bands have continued to trade remarks in interviews and on social media in the years since.