In the new documentary titled ‘Nöthin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of ’80s Hair Metal,’ Mötley Crüe manager Doc McGhee revealed the details of the band’s biting incident with Van Halen.
“When they bit you, it was like a dog bite,” McGhee explained. “They’d bite you right in the middle of the forehead, they’d bite you in the arm.”
“All of a sudden, Nikki gets up and walks over and bites Eddie on his shoulder,” McGhee continued. “Everybody’s pissed. Fifteen minutes later, Vince goes over to bite him too.”
He also revealed that Crüe and Eddie Van Halen got into a fight about the matter. “Eddie grabs Vince by the face, throws him on the table, they start fighting. Then Malcolm [Young], from AC/DC, looked at Nikki and said, ‘You bite me, mate, and I’ll chew your f*cking ear off.’ Nikki grabs him by the hair and slams him against a wall. Tommy and David Lee Roth are up on the table, doing some kung fu fighting or some sh*t like that,” he added.
In 1984, during the ‘Monsters of Rock’ tour with AC/DC and Van Halen, Mötley Crüe was in what Tommy Lee called their ‘crazy biting phase.’ Instead of handshakes or hugs, they showed affection by biting.
While on tour, the members would constantly bite the Van Halen members, but it didn’t turn out well. The band was kicked out of their hotels and almost kicked out of the tour as well.
McGhee later confessed in a 2015 interview that he had to apologize every day for what Mötley Crüe did.
‘Nöthin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of ’80s Hair Metal’ is now streaming on Paramount+.