Nikki Sixx thinks in the end Motley Crue "ceased to run on creativity".

Nikki Sixx, James Michael, DJ Ashba

Nikki Sixx, James Michael, DJ Ashba

The former Motley Crue bassist admitted the 'Girls Girls Girls' rock band - also including Vince Neil, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars - called it quits because they lacked the enthusiasm and passion to make new music and were just running on "mechanical motions".

He told Classic Rock magazine: "We talk about each other in a way that's endearing - but not. We say where we're really at. We talk about the drama and the pain of being in a band that has ceased to run on creativity, just on pure, mechanical motions."

And now that the Crue are no more after their final tour, Nikki, 57, is focused on his own band Sixx:A.M., which frontman James Michael says is no longer a "side project".

He told BANG Showbiz: "For this past year we've finally been able to commit ourselves 100 per cent to being Sixx:A.M. It has been a long journey and it kind of felt like it had been a side project for quite a while and we weren't really sure what Sixx:A.M. was.

"Strangely enough we've had some great successes, but now for the first time we went into the studio knowing that we were a real band and that we had a future of touring ahead of us and it really changed how we approached the record-making process and the songwriting process. We are having a great time and we've got a lot of music on its way."