A film adaptation began to percolate in 2006 but languished in development hell until Netflix picked up the rights in 2017. Now The Dirt's release on the streaming giant has reinvigorated interest in Motley Crue's outrageous rise to fame, and the antics they engaged in along the way.
The movie version of The Dirt focusses on the first 15 years of Motley Crue's career beginning in the early 1980s.
The movie concludes in 1995, with a postscript that reads: Motley Crue played together for another 20 years.
However, the movie does take some liberties with the chronology of Motley Crue's story.
For example, at the start of Mötley Crüe's Theatre of Pain tour, a sad looking Vince Neil is visited by his wife Sharise and their daughter but in real life, Neil wasn't yet married to Sharise.
The Dirt: The biopic is based on Motley Crue's autobiography (Image: Netflix)
In the film, the two bump into each other accidentally at a restaurant after Tommy saw Nikki's band London perform.
Nikki goes on to tell Tommy London is breaking up, offering Tommy a chance to audition for a new band.
In the film, Tommy says his only experience drumming was in his high school marching band but, in reality, Tommy was already the drummer in a band named Suite 19.
Nikki had seen Suite 19 in concert and was impressed by them, so the encounter in the restaurant was a planned meeting to discuss putting together a new band.
The movie shows the band first meeting Vince Neil at a backyard party where he sings Billy Squier's My Kind of Lover.
In reality, My Kind of Lover had not even been released yet.
The first lead singer of Motley Crue wasn't Vince, as the movie shows, but a man named O'Dean Peterson.
When Vince did eventually join Motley Crue, after the band followed him for several weeks to convince him, they did not jam to Live Wire as Nikki had yet to write the song.
The Dirt: Motley Crue engaged in not only dangerous but illegal activities (Image: Netflix)
Yes, just as portrayed in the film, Nikki did call the cops on his mother during an argument.
Nikki described the relationship to Forbes, saying: "The most painful part of the film is my relationship with my mother and how I could never mend that."
"There is a scene where she is calling me and I can’t pick up the phone.
I'm addicted to drugs but have huge animosity because she abandoned me."
The Dirt: Many of the true stories of the film are based in truth (Image: Netflix)
No, in fact, Motley Crue was far more wary of Elektra Records' rep Tom Zutaut (played by Pete
