News :: The Monsterus Crüe

Getting in two nights early before the kickoff of the Lowrider Experience 2003 Tour, Ron stopped by Island/Def Jam Music Group then caught up later that evening with Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe) and wife Donna D'Errico at the Tenmasa Sushi Bar on the Sunset Strip. “It was cool, I’ve always wanted to tell Nikki the entire story on something he said way back when (‘88/’89) that originally sparked the idea for what would become MONSTERUS! It was in an exclusive interview he did (I think with Hit Parader) back before Feelgood came out. The interview basically was talking about how the Crüe was fresh out of rehab...clean and sober...and writing an amazing new album. He went on to say something that I wouldn’t see repeated again in the press...he mentioned that they were thinking of calling the new album Monstrous. When I read that, I thought that was just the coolest album title I had heard...I was even more excited when the album came out and was titled Dr. Feelgood. I shelved the name for a few more years until around ‘95 when this project began to come together. We were just sitting around tossing out possible band names one night,” Ron recalls, “And I was asked what I wanted the world to think of when they heard our bands name...I simply said something that would sound ‘bigger than life’...because God is bigger than life! Somebody threw out Humongous and we all laughed...but it was just enough to cause a flashback and I remembered...Monstrous. Everybody said yeah, but we’ll change the spelling to MONSTER-US. One of the first things we did,” Ron says, “Was to check out the definition. Monsterus derives in part from the word monstrance which means, believe it or not, ‘A vessel used by the consecrated Host for the adoration of the faithful.’ Needless to say it was a no-brainer...it stuck! Nikki obviously got the Cliffs Notes version but was blown away...he remembered the interview and thought it was cool that somebody else did get to use the idea.” After their meeting, Ron headed across the street to Tower Records where the worldwide release of Metallica’s new album ‘St. Anger’ had just been launched. A few days later on the trip, Ron would also stop by the Crüe’s rehearsal complex at S.I.R. Rehearsal studios...Way Cool!