Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx slammed Steel Panther as a “wanna-be band” after they made a joke about bringing Vince Neil back from the dead.

In a recent interview, Steel Panther were asked which musician from the past they’d like to bring back. Singer Michael Starr replied, “I’d bring back Vince Neil,” and drummer Stix Zadina responded, “He’s not dead.” Starr countered, “I’d bring back the Vince Neil from back in the day because that guy is dead.”

That led Sixx to tweet, “The singer in Steel Panther can go fuck himself … wanna-be band putting down Vince Neil?” One fan pointed out that Steel Panther play Motley Crue songs in their show, to which Sixx replied, “That’s why they are assholes. Backstabbers.”

However, others pointed out that Steel Panther are known for parodying the rock-star ethic, both onstage and off. “First rule of Steel Panther – don’t take anything they say seriously,” one said. Another argued, “Because [Motley Crue] never made fun of [Neil] after you guys kicked him out the band or anything.”

Metal Injection pointed out that bad blood already existed between the bands, noting that last year Zadina said, “Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx did not like it when we went on tour with them in 2011. That was the only time that we really felt unwelcome. The thing with those guys is – I think they thought we were actually making fun of them directly. And I just gotta chalk that up to their egos being too big, because nothing that we do has anything to do with them directly.”

 

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