With Motley Crue‘s ‘Stadium Tour’ now part of the history books, bassist Nikki Sixx recalled to Entertainment Tonight how he happy he is the band decided to sign for the gig. The massively successful North American run featured co-headliners Def Leppard along with Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

Blabbermouth transcribed Sixx’s chat and reported him explaining his mindset prior to the tour: “We were friends, and we were fine and everything’s good, We’re just like, ‘No, (a tour’s) a lot of work.’ When you see the show out there, you’re gonna go, ‘Wow.’ I mean, it’s years of work putting it together, and then they were like, ‘No, not eight arenas, eight stadiums,’ and I was like, ‘Let me call Tommy (Lee).’ I was like, ‘Hey, dude, they’re talking about us touring,’ and he’s like, ‘No.’ Because we wanted to stand by what we said (about retiring from the road), and then it was 16 (shows) and 36, which we just entered our 36th stadium, and there’s, what, another 120 next year and the year after that, so, we’re grateful we said yes.”

Sixx went on to say, “We’re having a blast. I mean, we’re all having a blast, everyone’s just having a good time. . . it’s amazing to be 41 years together? I mean, sometimes it’s just like, ‘What?’ Stepping into some sacred territory there.”

Nikki Sixx told us Motley Crue’s enduring popularity is based on their history and their reputation as a live act: “When the original band is back together, they’re like, ‘I know what that is. I know that it’s potent. I know that this band — more than most bands — is completely over the top and we need to see it, because we never got to see it.’ The people that did see it, it’s like, ‘You’ve got to go see this. It’s the real deal.”’