Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx recently spoke about why he legally changed his given name to his stage name.

The story surfaced this week as the rocker was promoting his new memoir, The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx, which details that and other tales.

But as the Crue member found out while writing it, even his own origins have twists he didn't expect. That's what he uncovered in an Oct. 19 interview with The Project.

Watch the video down toward the bottom of this post.

"I was born Frank Feranna in 1958," Sixx explains. "A lot of messaging that I heard when I was a young boy about my dad and about my mom — and I ended up being raised by my grandparents — I kind of carried that with me. When I got into that time in my life when I started to become of age, and the hormones, and discovering rock 'n' roll, by the time I got to a place where I was playing in bands, I didn't wanna carry my dad's name on with me."

He continues, "So I changed my name to Nikki Sixx legally and said, 'I'm moving forward.' And I did. I got my own family — everything Sixx everywhere. I actually did manifest a new life."

Sixx adds, "But in writing the book, I realized it wasn't all true. My dad didn't just walk out on us. There were a lot of discrepancies. And so in the book, what I enjoyed was I got to learn a lot about my history. It kind of really helped me heal in a lot of ways, some of this stuff. And I hope I can pass that on to other people."

Indeed, the book details the formative era before the rock star hedonism highlighted in Sixx's 2007 tome, The Heroin Diaries. In 2011, he authored the photography-focused This Is Gonna Hurt. But The First 21 is concerned only with the Crue bassist's early history.

"You've heard the tales of excess and debauchery," Sixx previously said in a press release. "All the peaks and the valleys that came with rock 'n' roll stardom."

The First 21 covers "the story that you haven't heard," the musician offered. "It's the intimate, personal story of how an innocent Idaho farm boy with a burning dream and desire — for music, for love and for fame — became the notorious Nikki Sixx. I believe our first 21 years have a lot to do with shaping who we become. These are my first 21, and it's my hope that they will thrill and inspire you to invest in your own biggest dreams."

The First 21 arrived on Oct. 19 via Hachette Books. It's available for purchase now at thefirst21book.com.

How Nikki Sixx Ended Up With His Name

Nikki Sixx, The First 21 Book Art

Hachette Books
Hachette Books
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