Rap-metal combo Methods of Mayhem was formed by frontman Tommy Lee after quitting his drumming duties in Mötley Crüe. Born Thomas Lee Bass on October 3, 1962 in Athens, Greece, he grew up in Los Angeles, co-founding the band Christmas with bassist Nikki Sixx in 1981; with the subsequent additions of guitarist Mick Mars and singer Vince Neil, the group was renamed Mötley Crüe and immediately became a top attraction on the local hard rock scene. Signing to Elektra in 1983, the Crüe emerged as one of the best-selling and most notorious metal bands of the era, scoring a series of hit albums including 1985's Theatre of Pain, 1987's Girls, Girls, Girls and 1989's Dr. Feelgood; famed for their glamorously excessive offstage antics as much as their music itself, Lee in particular became steady tabloid fodder in 1986 with his marriage to Dynasty vixen Heather Locklear, a tumultuous relationship which ended in divorce eight years later.

Even as Mötley Crüe's fortunes waned, Lee remained in ...

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