The Heroin Diaries. Pretty dark book title, huh? Well, he was a pretty dark man when he wrote them.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of a little band called Motley Crue, but if you have, a book like this produced by one of the members wouldn’t surprise you. Motley Crue was one of the biggest bands of the 80’s, and they were most defiantly the wildest.
Motley Crue was the headliner for all things rock; the poster child, perhaps, of the common phrase of the time, “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.” They had the biggest parties, the most girls, and more money than they knew what to do with. Nikki Sixx, the bassist of the band and the author of this book spent it the only way he knew how: drugs.
The Heroin Diaries came out on shelves when I was five years old, obviously long before I knew anything about this man. Nikki Sixx had been clean for years by this time, but he had found the courage within himself to publish his most private journals from the darkest point in his life: when he was addicted to heroin.
One of my favorite quotes from Nikki about his addiction is: “Alcohol, acid, cocaine… they were just affairs. When I met heroin, it was true love.”
He had a horrible addiction; so bad, in fact, he got to where he was spending up to one thousand dollars a day on heroin. Sick, right? He thinks so, too.
It took over his life; his music, his relationships, his friends. Ruined him, really. His first diary entry begins with him bundled beneath a Christmas tree stark naked beside a bent spoon and a rifle. Alone.
I feel as if he has grown a lot since that day beneath the Christmas tree. He had to die twice before he decided to get clean (I’m absolutely not kidding- he died- on record twice.) He’s clean, he has a beautiful wife and kids. I think he’s happy. I hope he is. God gave him a lot of chances.
I’ve recently written him a letter. I hope he gets it. He inspires me a lot, and I hope he stays clean and stays happy.
