The night before Christmas Eve came close to being the last night of Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx’s life.
On December 23, 1987, after a night out in Los Angeles with members of Guns N’ Roses, he overdosed on heroin. His heart stopped, and he was pronounced dead for two minutes before paramedics brought him back.
Sixx has long credited a paramedic who injected adrenaline into his heart with saving him. Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler remembers it differently, saying Sixx was dragged into a cold shower before paramedics performed CPR.
Whatever happened in that room, Sixx walked away with the seed of a song. During sessions for the band’s 1989 album Dr. Feelgood, he picked up an acoustic guitar and wrote “Kickstart My Heart,” turning the night he nearly died into a full-throttle rocker.
The band’s former manager was the one who encouraged him to share the lyric with the rest of the group.
Released as the album’s second single, the track climbed to No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1990. Dr. Feelgood became the band’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.
The music video added its own bit of chaos. It was filmed live at the Whisky a Go Go on October 5, 1989, during a warmup gig where the band played under the name the Foreskins. Comedian Sam Kinison makes a cameo as the limo driver.
Fans still put it near the top of the genre. In a Rolling Stone readers’ poll of the greatest hair metal songs, it landed at No. 7, one of four Mötley Crüe entries in the top 10.
Nearly four decades on, it’s still a fixture of the band’s shows, including the summer tour that wrapped in September. Sixx has said the band plans to take real time off next year.
Not bad for a song that started with a stopped heart.