At 46, Tommy Lee isn’t showing signs of slowing down. The legendary drummer is ravishing in his midlife success as much as he enjoyed the early years of his career when Mötley Crüe first started. “I pinch myself almost daily. All this sh*t started happening when I was 17 and to sit here at 46 and still be rocking the sh*t out is, like, Wow! It’s amazing and I can’t believe it’s still happening!”

At the time of the interview, Tommy had just gotten back from Mötley’s European tour and was getting ready to embark on the band’s Crüe Fest II American summer tour. “We’re gonna play the entire Dr. Feelgood (1989) record from top to bottom.” When the tour wraps later this summer, Tommy is slated to release Methods of Mayhem’s sophomore album, which he recorded at his home’s recording studio. “It’s the best ever to wake up in the morning and just rock sh*t!” he says.

When asked about the sound of the new Mayhem album, Tommy is at a loss for words. “It’s hard to explain music,” he says. “For me, it’s one of those things that you feel or don’t. It’s very eclectic like the previous album. One track will be full-blown rock, next is a dirty electro-dance track, while another one is a beautiful ethereal-spacey-sound thing. The best part about doing a solo record is you do whatever you want. With Mötley, people expect a certain thing; with this, it’s a free for all where anything goes.” When asked which he preferred doing, Tommy played coy and noted that he equally loved both Mötley and his own ventures.

Once the album is released, Tommy will immediately go on its promotional tour. However, in between dates, fans might be able to catch him performing random DJ collabo appearances at local clubs, since he’s also known to have an appreciation for dance music. “I’m a drummer, so when it comes to beats, I’m all over it,” he says. “I started messing around with computers, drum machines, turntables and DVJs. I was, like, ‘F*ck, let me at it.’ Once you go into that world, you start meeting different DJs and remixers and then you’re off to the races! There’s something really fun about it that’s similar to playing drums. When you’re looking out at the fans, they’re putting their hands up to the beat and this weird control thing takes over. It’s like you’re the heartbeat for the evening. Nothing makes me happier than to look out and see people going f*ckin bananas dancing, screaming or moshing to the beats.”

With so many projects going on at the same time, it seems as if Tommy’s schedule is as hectic as ever. “It’s crazy. I have no idea how it happens,” he says about his ability to juggle numerous projects without any conflictions. “It feels like I’m always doing something. At times it can be a bit much, and I know I need to just slow down once in a while.” But don’t expect Tommy to totally disappear off the face of the Earth; he’ll always be involved in entertainment in some way or another given music is his life.

“I think at the end of the day, I’m still, and always will be, a fan of music,” he explains as to why he’s so involved with many types of music. “I love so many different styles of music that I want to f*ckin play with it all. It’s like as if you were to picture music being four or five different women—you’d want to play with all of them, right? Like why not? I still love to go see concerts, dance, to f*ckin party, make music…I can’t get enough sometimes.”

Although many would consider Tommy the ultimate quintessence of a rock star, he doesn’t even consider himself remotely close to being one. “It’s so weird,” he replies about his rock star personality. “I’m just, like, a normal dude. Yeah, some of the sh*t I do is crazy, but to me it’s just normal.” According to Tommy, being a rock star is not something everybody can achieve. “In my book, there’s only a handful of [musicians] who I consider to be rock stars—and nobody new actually. I sit here thinking, ‘Where’s the new Mick Jagger? Where’s the new David Bowie? Where’s the new Prince?’ I don’t know? We seem to be missing that in the department of new musicians…it’s weird.”

It takes more than just crazy antics and attitude to be a rock star in Tommy’s eyes; it takes talent, luck and it’s something deserved and earned rather than merely given. “You can act like a rock star, but I think you have to deserve to be called one.” He may believe he doesn’t exactly fit the category, but there’s absolutely no denying that he is definitely one of the best rockers to date.
So, after sustaining a career spanning more than two decades, one would think that Tommy would definitely have a sick collection of cars in his garage to choose from, right? In reality, Tommy only has one car parked in the driveway of his lavish Calabasas, CA mansion. For him, owning tons of rides is a thing of the past. He admits to have once been a “car whore,” but is now more than satisfied with his one and only vehicle: a 1968 Chevy Impala lowrider. “Cars look pretty and you drive them once in a while, but for most of the time, they sit around,” he says, adding that he’d rather invest his cash in his home or recording studio, since that’s where he spends most of his time when not on tour. Tommy’s Impala features all that he’ll ever need in a car—a boisterous JVC Arsenal Mobile Entertainment sound system designed and installed by Mad Mike, sleek and soft white leather interior and a bit of engine work done by Galpin Auto Sports.

The Impala has also helped alter Tommy’s driving habits. “The Mercedes I got rid of f*ckin hauled ass, and I noticed myself, like, always just going [fast],” he explains very animatedly. “But with the Impala, I’m driving up to rehearsal and I’m just, like, cruising. I realized this was good for me. Everyone is passing me; I don’t give a f*ck. I’m in the slow lane, and I’m way calmer, watching everyone around me all stressed out. It’s very therapeutic.”

Tommy acquired the Impala while filming one of his reality show ventures: Planet Green’s “Battleground Earth: Ludacris vs. Tommy Lee.” While filming at a car show in Dallas, TX, Tommy spotted the lowrider and immediately asked the owners if it was for sale, offering them $10,000. “Luda sent someone back to his bus to get $10,000 cash that he loaned me for the car,” he says. “The guy shipped it to me, and it was obvious then that they couldn’t afford to finish it properly. It looked cool on the outside, but on the inside, it wasn’t really built to drive everyday.”

Tommy vividly recalls one of his first drives in the Impala when a wheel bearing broke, almost causing him to wreck. “I nearly crashed at the end of my street,” he exclaims. “I was trying to put the E-brake and stop it since it was heading for a street light. Luckily, I maneuvered it into the right-hand turn lane and let it coast. Thank God my kids weren’t with me.” After his most intense moment in the Impala thus far, he sent it to Galpin Auto Sports to have it properly finished. “Forty grand later, it’s right! It’s such a badass car. I love that thing!”

His “badass” Impala perfectly complements Tommy’s badass, rocker demeanor. As a high-profile musician, whose personal antics sometimes overshadow his musical achievements, he’s trying to make his musical endeavors out shine his personal life. While many celebrity-obsessed readers want an in-depth feature spilling juicy details as to who’s in Tommy’s bed, what’s in his fridge or what outrageous act he has recently been involved in, it’s often hard to remember that at the end of the day, he’s still a regular person and a very much devoted father to his two boys, Brandon and Dylan. “There has been so many antics that overshadow the music, which f*ckin sucks,” he says. “I hate that.” Everybody knows Tommy is very outgoing, but few really understand the creative genius of the rocker, which is why he’s all about the music, as he enters a new phase in his already established legendary rock career.

Photos: Eric Curtis | www.ericcurtisphoto.com