Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx wasn't insulted by the way David Lee Roth declined to be part of 'The Stadium Tour,' supporting Crüe and Def Leppard.

Sixx revealed to the Los Angeles Times in August that he reached out to Roth at one point, asking if he would like to join the bill (which includes Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts).

Roth declined, telling Sixx, "I don't open for bands that I influenced."

Speaking to Forbes this month about his new memoir, The First 21, Sixx defended Roth from critics, who presented the frontman's response as an ego trip.

"Yeah, well, he probably influenced everybody," Sixx said of Roth and Van Halen's ubiquity in the late-'70s and '80s. "That band is a monster. But, you know, understandably. We all get to make our choices and stuff. I just thought with the body of work that he has with a lot of people, it could be really exciting. I understand his position, too."

The postponed 'Stadium Tour' is set to finally move forward in the summer of 2022.

Roth ended up taking a gig supporting KISS on its 'End of the Road' farewell tour in early-2020, though he did not continue on the tour when it resumed this past summer.

Days after announcing a five-show Las Vegas residency this winter around New Year's, Roth confirmed that he has decided to retire after the final show of the residency on January 8.

"I've given you all I've got to give," he told the Las Vegas Review Journal. "It's been an amazing, great run, no regrets, nothing to say about anybody. I'll miss you all. Stay frosty."

Kerry Collins

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