A video I caught on Youtube, got me thinking about this case again. Nikki Sixx was supposedly injured in a crash in 1983. Apparently his shoulder was injured so badly, that he wouldn't be able to play with the Crue. Matthew John Trippe came into the picture. From UCR Supposedly this guy played bass for live shows, played on albums and even penned some songs. When Sixx was ready to return, the guy was booted out. He would later sue the band for royalties. Back and forth, back and forth in court and what the settlement was will never be known. The case was closed in 1993 and the files in regards to the case were destroyed in 2005. From some other guy, who Tripped would later play in a band with

I heard this rumour years ago. I tried comparing tons of pictures and compared the bass playing in Sixx era London/Earlier Crue material, with the material Trippe supposedly played on. I swore then there were differences, but I really don't know. I do think its interesting Sixx keeps going back to Trippe was in a mental institution, Trippe was in a mental institution. Has anyone read any of the books Sixx is in? Especially the Heroin Diaries? Sixx was and is fucked up. It's not all drugs either.

The full story is at https://ultimateclassicrock.com/nikki-sixx-impostor/

This is an interesting story, no matter how much of it is actually true. I have never heard about this before. Whose picture is that on the cover of "Shout at the Devil" then- the "Original" Nikki Sixx or the "stunt double" Sixx (Trippe)?

I'd heard this a while back, and I personally can't see any way that it'd be true, especially for two reasons: A) Sixx seems like the kinda guy with too great an ego to be kicked out of what was essentially his own band, and B) he was by far the primary songwriter in Crue, and I don't get why he'd be so willing to just give up songs he wrote for albums he wouldn't play on.

Although, on the other hand, I imagine it's hardly difficult to replicate his work as a bassist

Never heard of this before. While I guess anything is possible in Crüe land, Death doom raised some valid points. Sixx may have been a bog standard player, but his writing shaped a lot of their signature tunes.

Considering how Nikki Sixx medically died twice, the notion of him being replaced for hurting his arm seems almost hilarious.

Motley Crue were hardly the huge name they would end up being five years later in 1983. Why wouldn't you just replace Sixx, rather than go through this ridiculous charade?
If you wanted to retain him as a song writer, do what The Beach Boys did with Brian Wilson, or what Metal Church did with Kurdt Vanderhoof? Nothing about this makes sense.

This is rather interesting, and doesn't sound implausible. Especially with the social security numbers thing taken into account.

There's a 3-hour plus interview with Trippe I watched a few years ago where he goes over his story - it's still up on vimeo it seems:

https://vimeo.com/50192934

Haha, this is such outlandish bullshit. He claims he wrote "Looks That Kill" - Nikki Sixx got into a car crash on June 15, 1983, the band had been playing the song live for a while at that point, including this recording from May 29, 1983.



That seems to disprove the story of the crazy guy who claims he wrote it when he was hired to replace Nikki Sixx after that car crash.

Well, I've read up on this story because I did find it fascinating. After reading up on this, I do think it is entirely possible that they hired Trippe as a stand-in for Sixx (i.e. for Frank, the ORIGINAL Nikki Sixx) for a few shows after his injury, but that his stint in the band, and his contributions to their songwriting, were pretty minimal at best.

He might have stood in for him for a few live appearances back in 1983, and maybe he was under the deluded assumption that he would be a permanent fixture in the band, before they told him his tenure was up and unceremoniously gave him the boot. The guy sounds like he is clearly not all there. But there are eyewitnesses who claim that some live shows from that time period featured a different guy on bass (taller, different tattoos, more heavyset, etc.) than the "Real" Sixx, so I do believe it is possible that Trippe did play at least a couple gigs with them as a substitute bassist, even if it can't be proven.

But as to Trippe writing songs for Motley Crue, recording with albums with them, and being in the band for almost 2 years, and so on- that is almost certainly pure bullshit. He just sounds like a broke and deluded hack trying to cash in on his 15 minutes of fame as a live session musician who maybe played like 3 or 4 shows, tops, with a famous band. Assuming even THAT much is true.

Why would the band try to hide the identity of a touring musician? Even back in 1982 the concept of the live musician was not radical or new. There's no shame in announcing a hired live musician.

Trippe later played bass in a band called SixxPakk, which would cover Motley Crue tracks. Trippe could not play bass on those songs, and the bands setlist included on songs Trippe claimed to write.

I think it's possible. If you read the Heroin Diaries, Sixx was completely fucked up on drugs. By his own accord he locked himself in his closet, for very long periods of time. He swore there were SWAT teams outside, ready to break in. Something like that. Point is the guy was fucked up. It's possible someone could of stood in for him then, or when he got fucked up in a car accident. It's not like most of his bass are anything other than beginner level bass playing. I love old Crue, but the bass playing isn't anything complex. Really don't know though. I just don't put it past them doing.

They could have used Trippe as a "Backup" and then either turned his bass way down in the mix, or simply used a pre-recorded bass line, so Trippe didn't even have to actually play the instrument on stage.

Yeah, other bands did use "Backup" live musicians, and they were usually honest and open about doing so- but then again these hired guns never tried to claim they wrote x or y songs/album, etc for the band, or tried to sue, either. I suspect the truth is somewhere in between Trippe's wild concocted story, and the possibility that maybe he was a legitimate roadie for the band for a while, even if he didn't actually play in the band. And if this is the case, they may possibly have brought him onstage as a stand-in for Sixx for a couple gigs when Sixx was either injured, or otherwise too chemically incapacitated to play.

Do you also believe that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and that he was also quietly replaced with a double?

If they're hiring someone who looks different as a session musician, wouldn't it make sense for a professionally-managed band to hire one of the countless musicians in LA rather than their guitarist going up to some random guy and asking if he plays bass? I imagine if that happened, it'd be one of those stories that came out in the tell-alls and memoirs in the decades since then.

Well, I was thinking he may have originally been hired as a roadie, so he already would of had an "in" with the band. Metallica for example hired one of their roadies to replace James Hetfield when Hetfield broke his wrist. Just a possibility (and no, I do not believe that Paul McCartney died in 1966.)

Exactly. And it wouldn't be difficult to find someone who had the Nikki Sixx look also. The musicians in Motley Crue weren't amatuers, and they had all been in bands prior. They had contacts and it wouldn't have been difficult to find someone. Nikki had already been in the industry for 7 years at this point, and Mick had been around for at least a decade. They hadn't met someone in that combined nearly 20 years that could fill in for a few months? The best they really could do was hit up some fat groupie outside of a dive bar on the Sunset Strip?



Metallica never hid this fact. John Marshall of Metal Church fame was the guitarist that replaced him a number of times. There's a few videos where you can see James awkwardly conversing with fans during Seek & Destroy on the Black Album tour.

I only mention the Paul McCartney thing because ther Matthew Trippe story is equally ridiculous to the Paul is Dead story.

John Marshall is a good example of how this kinda thing actually goes. The band has their guitar tech (soon to be a professional musician himself) play with them, and they give him credit. The same year Marshall first filled in with Metallica, he joined Blind Illusion and Kirk Hammett recorded their next demo. He later filled in again in 1991, and the band has brought him onstage as a guest more recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOLxIVetVaI

It's strange how this type of rumors persist to this day, with all the detailed history, videos, and tell-alls we have.

Another fill-in story, on a Kiss original lineup reunion tour in 1997 - when they were making a big deal of marketing the original lineup - their drummer was sick one night, so they had his drum tech fill in, and they announced him with fanfare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujVg7LIJh9I