MÖTLEY CRÜE Shares Visualizer For New Song 'Cancelled'

Coming off a whirlwind return to the Sunset Strip with three historic club shows last month, an EP release, and a 2025 Las Vegas residency announcement, legendary rockers MOTLEY CRUE confirmed today that they have raised $350,000 for Covenant House.

With the help of fans and partners, the band generated the funds through their new philanthropic endeavor, the Mötley Crüe Give Back Initiative — a moniker under which they will partner with different non-profit organizations near and dear to their hearts moving forward.

An exclusive charity dinner at the legendary Rainbow Bar & Grill in Los Angeles and a Charity Buzz/Definitive Authentic auction of ultra-rare collectible items from MOTLEY CRUE's sold out “Hollywood Takeover” helped the band to surpass their original donation goal of $250,000 by $100,000, directly supporting Covenant House — providing immediate and long-term support for young people facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking.

“MOTLEY CRUE has supported Covenant House for close to 20 years, quietly supporting young people in need for decades,” Covenant House CEO Bill Bedrossian explains. “But this past month of concerts, auctions, and the charity dinner showed that Crüeheads all over the world care deeply about young people experiencing homelessness, too. The generosity shown by the band and their supporters will enable so many more young people to have the opportunity to be safe, supported, and to pursue their dreams. What an incredible legacy for the CRUE!”

The members of MOTLEY CRUE added in a shared statement: “Every young person deserves a safe place to sleep and the opportunity to thrive. It's been an honor to support Covenant House in the fight to end youth homelessness. Thank you to all the Crüeheads who joined the fight and helped make this donation possible. We are humbled and inspired by all of you.”

MOTLEY CRUE's debut Big Machine EP, “Canceled”is out now on all platforms ahead of their 2025 Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live, March 28 – April 19. For tickets and more information, including a pre-order for the band's new 35th anniversary, limited-edition “Dr. Feelgood” box set, visit motley.com.

Watch the brand-new visualizer for MOTLEY CRUE's latest single, “Canceled”out today via YouTube below.

The three-song “Canceled” EP contains the title track, MOTLEY CRUE's cover version of the BEASTIE BOYS classic “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)” swear “Dogs Of War”which was made available in April. All three songs were recorded in April 2023 with a longtime producer Bob Rock.

“It was really great getting in the studio and working on some tracks together,” MOTLEY CRUE offered in a joint statement. “What started out as a couple demo ideas turned into this EP produced by Bob Rock. We look forward to getting back into the studio again soon and writing more new music, as well.”

MOTLEY CRUE's version of “Fight For Your Right” has quickly become a fan favorite since the band first debuted the song live during their secret 2023 club show at The Underworld in London, UK At its premiere, 450 lucky, sweat-drenched fans who came out to see a band advertised as DOGS OF WAR got the surprise of a lifetime when MOTLEY CRUE took the stage with the BEASTIE BOYS classic in their set list.

The veil of speculation surrounding the DOGS OF WAR pseudonym was finally lifted when the band released their first new single since 2019 by the “Dogs Of War” name in the spring of 2024. “Dogs Of War” subsequently became a Top 5 Rock Radio hit, accompanied by a highly acclaimed music video by the director Nick DenBoer. The cutting-edge visual, which is entirely CGI-based, features the members of MOTLEY CRUE navigating an exhilarating post-apocalyptic world.

“Canceled” EP track listing:

01. Cancelled (Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, John Lowery)
02. Dogs Of War (Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, John Lowery)
03. Fight For Your Right (Adam Horovitz, Rick Rubin, Adam Yauch)

MOTLEY CRUE drummer Tommy Lee told Bill Maher's “Club Random” podcast last year that he and his bandmates felt inspired to write a song called “Canceled” because they were surprised it never happened to them.

“There was this article that was like, 'How did MOTLEY CRUE ever not get canceled?'” he said. “And we were like, 'Fuck, we've gotta write a song about that because we didn't ever get it.' We snuck in under whatever threshold, wherever that was, where we got away with fucking murder.”

MOTLEY CRUE's deal with Big Machine sees the band and the label working together again after making the 2014 project “Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe”which featured CRUE tracks covered by country stars RASCAL FLATTS, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, Darius Rucker and more. Big Machine also partnered with MOTLEY CRUE's new guitarist John 5 for the release of his 2021 album “Sinner”.

MOTLEY CRUE's last studio album was 2008's “Saints Of Los Angeles”which was followed by a 2009 “Greatest Hits” compilation.

In 2018, MOTLEY CRUE recorded four new songs for “The Dirt” movie, including the single “The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)”, “Ride With The Devil”, “Crash And Burn” and the band's own spin on Madonna's “Like A Virgin”.

John 5 joined MOTLEY CRUE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MOTLEY CRUE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.

In a recent interview with Janne Innfors of the Swedish radio station Rock classic, MOTLEY CRUE bassist Nikki Sixx stated about the mixed response to “Dogs Of War” from the band's fans: “We like the fact that there was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, because at least people were listening. It's a very strange time now where, whether it's a news cycle or socials, everybody has turned into a critic And I always say, they've never erected a statue of a critic, right? It's always the artist everybody's a critic. So within a short amount of time, we go, 'We love it.' 'We hate it.' 'You're over.' 'You've reinvented yourself.' 'It sounds like 'Shout At The Devil'. 'It sucks.' And we just kind of sit there and go, 'That's cool, guys, but we didn't really ask for any input from you.' We're just artists writing music, and we're pretty cool. I'm happy with it. I like it.”

During an appearance on SiriusXM Fight Nation's “Busted Open” show Sixx discussed the musical direction of “Dogs Of War”saying: “A lot of people said it's a different sound, but I'll be honest with you, I don't necessarily agree with that. If you listen to the verses, they're very similar to a lot of stuff that we've done — that simple, grinding thing with those almost CHEAP TRICK melodies. And the riff, I mean, it could be off of 'Dr. feelgood'. So I don't really feel like it's that different. I think what's different for people is that when we were working on the song, Tommy [Lee, CRÜE drummer] had the idea to just let the bottom fall out in the verses, which is not really what we do. We usually go for it, swear [it’s] really unique for Vince [Neil, CRÜE singer].”

Vince chimed in: “I don't ever sing like that. But it works in the song.” He added that “Dogs Of War” “was very easy to sing.”

Nikki elaborated on the CRUE songwriting process, saying: “I think what we do together is we all kind of know each other so well, we know each other's strengths and weaknesses. And for me as a lyricist, I'm always thinking about Vince and his tempo as I write. So it's not like out of the wheelhouse, but it's nice to know each other so well, if that makes sense.”

When “Dogs Of War” was first released, Neil described the track as “like old school meets new school. It's got that old-school vibe about it, but it's new music. Nikki came up with it and he sent me the music and I thought it was really cool. So I started singing it and we got in the studio and it turned into the song I think the fans are really gonna like it.”

photo credit: Ross Halfin