Nikki Sixx Slams 'Hater' Ex-Godsmack Drummer Over Motley Crue Remarks

Nikki Sixx called out "hater" Shannon Larkin over some recent Motley Crue remarks the drummer made during a livestream video.

Larkin, best known as the drummer of Godsmack from 2002 until 2024, shared a video on his YouTube channel where he addressed some of the criticism that's been directed at Mike Mangini, who recently stepped into the role as drummer in the Sully Erna-fronted group.

During the video, the drummer name-dropped Sixx and alleged that Motley Crue play to a click-track during their live performances.

Sixx caught wind of Larkin's comments and wrote a response on X yesterday (June 28):

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.
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 bimbo podcast crowd that builds an audience by talking about everyone else instead of creating something worth talking about.
Anyway, maybe he’s needs to take a nap before he does more press.

What Did Shannon Larkin Say About Nikki Sixx + Motley Crue?

During the aforementioned livestream video, Larkin spoke about Wade Murff, who stepped into the role after a brief stint by Larkin's immediate successor, Evanescence's Will Hunt.

Murff was tabbed as a fill-in for Black Veil Brides' European tour dates, making way for former Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini to now take command of the Godsmack drum throne for now.

Larkin attributed Murff's brief tenure with the band to Erna being a "perfectionist" and concluded that it just simply didn't work out.

"The only thing I could see in any kind of criticism towards Wade Murff, as I watched videos back through the shows — every show's online — was the interaction of tempo push and pull wasn't as smooth perhaps, but Sully and I have been on the same page for over two decades playing live shows and making records together," Larkin said [via Blabbermouth].

The drummer asserted that Godsmack don't use click tracks or any backing tracks during their live shows, which was when he mentioned Sixx and Crue.

"And backups, 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."

At the beginning of this year, Motley Crue emerged victorious in a legal battle with former guitarist Mick Mars. The ousted member had claimed the band played to backing tracks, which he later admitted, while under oath, that those allegations were false.

What's the History Between Motley Crue and Godsmack?

Motley Crue and Godsmack already had a history prior to this exchange, particularly between Sixx and Erna. The latter band opened for the former on Crue's 2009 Crue Fest 2 tour, which was when the feud first started.

"Most of it stemmed from Motley Crue’s security more than Nikki, but Nikki is the leader of the band. Basically, the security threw us off the stage. Whatever, it was a bunch of ego shit that none of us really got into," Larkin explained of the rift back in 2011.

"[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 a shit about Motley Crue. Motley Crue is a legendary band that we all respect. When I was 17, I had Shout at the Devil but it just kind of fronted us a little that they would think that our guests would be star-struck over them. So, that's where the bad blood came from."

In early 2010, Godsmack released the notorious diss track "Cryin' Like a Bitch," which Erna confirmed was "inspired" by his experience on the Crue Fest 2 tour.

"There's definitely been some rock star garbage on this tour that we just have never seen in our career," the singer said in a video at the time [via Blabbermouth].

"This was the first time that I felt like, 'You know what?! 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."

Sixx, of course, didn't like that very much and so the back-and-forth continued between the rockers in the press in the years that followed.

Below, see a ranking of the best drummers in rock and metal.