# At 59, Slash Finally Opens Up About the Darkest Night of Mötley Crüe

Slash, the iconic guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, has long been a figure of rock legend, but at 59, he’s now revealing a chilling secret he kept for nearly four decades.

In a 2025 interview with *Mojo* magazine, Slash broke his silence about a harrowing night with Mötley Crüe, a moment he calls the “darkest night in rock history.” This isn’t just a tale of rock excess—it’s a raw, personal account of witnessing death and survival that left an indelible mark on him.

The night in question was December 23, 1987, in Los Angeles, when Slash found himself in the midst of a drug-fueled chaos with Mötley Crüe’s bassist, Nikki Sixx. After a wild party, Sixx injected a lethal dose of heroin and stopped breathing. Slash, present in the room, recalls the horror vividly: “I didn’t know if Nikki was still alive.

I only saw his body start to change color.” As paramedics arrived, a nurse plunged a needle into Sixx’s heart, reviving him in a scene that haunted Slash. “He jolted up like he was electrocuted, then collapsed, and his heart started beating again. I cried. For the first time in years, I cried,” Slash confessed. This near-death experience, later detailed in Sixx’s memoir *The Heroin Diaries* and depicted in the film *The Dirt*, had never been publicly tied to Slash until now.

The bond between Slash and Mötley Crüe wasn’t musical—they never shared a band or style—but it was forged in the gritty underbelly of the ‘80s rock scene, where drugs and danger were constant companions. Slash and Sixx often partied together, even making a grim pact to not save each other if one fell to addiction.

Yet, when Sixx overdosed, Slash couldn’t help but scream for help, a reaction that contradicted their reckless code. The aftermath saw Slash distancing himself from the band, unable to reconcile the miracle of Sixx’s survival with the group’s casual dismissal of the incident. “Seeing the whole room act like nothing happened was truly terrifying,” he admitted.

Mötley Crüe’s history is steeped in such darkness, from their provocative beginnings with albums like *Too Fast for Love* and *Shout at the Devil* to tragedies like Vince Neil’s 1984 car crash that killed Hanoi Rocks’ drummer Razzle. Their relentless lifestyle of drugs, violence, and excess defined them as much as their music.

Slash’s revelation adds a personal layer to this legacy, showing how even fellow rockers were shaken by their self-destructive path. “I told myself I’d never tell this story, but I can’t pretend anymore,” Slash said, not seeking attention but aiming to warn others about the brutal realities of that era.

This confession is just the beginning of revisiting Mötley Crüe’s tumultuous journey, marked by internal conflicts, legal battles, and a legacy that teeters between brilliance and ruin. Slash’s account at 59 serves as a stark reminder: rock’s glamour often hides a deadly cost, and survival isn’t always a triumph.