Nikki Sixx has an estimated net worth of $65 million. Born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr., he is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of Mötley Crüe — one of the best-selling heavy metal bands in history with over 100 million albums sold worldwide. Beyond the band, Sixx has built income streams as a published author, radio host, photographer, fashion designer, and catalog rights holder whose publishing back-catalog spans 305 songs.
Updated March 2026: According to Billboard, Hipgnosis Songs acquired 100% of Sixx’s writer’s share of PRO income and SoundExchange royalties for his 305-song catalog in September 2020. Combined with Mötley Crüe’s entire recorded catalog sale to BMG in a deal valued at approximately $150 million — reported by Variety in November 2021 — Sixx’s net worth is broadly estimated at $65 million as of early 2026.
Nikki Sixx was born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. His father, Frank Feranna Sr., abandoned the family when Sixx was a toddler, and his mother Deana Richards later left him to be raised by his maternal grandparents. The family relocated multiple times during his childhood, and Sixx spent formative years in Jerome, Idaho, where he was expelled from school for selling drugs and developed a reputation for breaking into homes and shoplifting. He was subsequently sent to live with his mother in Seattle, where he used money from a stolen guitar sale to buy himself a bass.
His uncle, Don Zimmerman, was a music industry executive who served as president of Capitol Records — a connection that gave Sixx an early understanding of the music business. At age 17, Sixx moved to Los Angeles with little money, working a string of menial jobs including a position at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners by phone while pursuing music. He was not musically trained in any formal sense; his skills developed entirely through practice and through the underground rock scene of late-1970s Hollywood.
Sixx played briefly in two pre-Mötley Crüe bands — Sister and London — before co-founding Mötley Crüe in 1981 with drummer Tommy Lee. The lineup was completed by guitarist Mick Mars and vocalist Vince Neil. The band self-released their debut album Too Fast for Love on their own Leathür Records label before signing with Elektra Records, which re-released the album nationally.
Mötley Crüe released nine studio albums over a 27-year recording run. Shout at the Devil (1983) established the band as a national act; Theatre of Pain (1985) and Girls, Girls, Girls (1987) built their commercial presence. Their commercial peak came with Dr. Feelgood (1989), which spent 114 weeks on the Billboard 200, sold over six million copies in the United States alone, and earned six-times platinum certification. The album’s lead single “Kickstart My Heart” — written by Sixx about his 1987 heroin overdose — has accumulated over 222 million streams on Spotify. Sixx received a Grammy Award nomination for the album’s title track.
In 1987, Sixx suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose on December 23, was declared clinically dead for approximately two minutes, and was revived. He used the experience as the basis for his memoir The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star (2007), which entered the New York Times bestseller list at No. 7. The Mötley Crüe autobiography The Dirt (2001), co-authored by all four members, also reached the New York Times top 10 bestseller list and was adapted into a Netflix film in 2019 with an 18-track soundtrack.
Outside Mötley Crüe, Sixx formed Sixx:A.M. in 2006 alongside guitarist DJ Ashba and vocalist/producer James Michael. The project released five studio albums between 2007 and 2016, including The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack (2007) and This Is Gonna Hurt (2011), and toured alongside Mötley Crüe on the 2008 Crüe Fest. Sixx also formed Brides of Destruction with Tracii Guns in 2002, releasing Here Come the Brides in 2004.
In 2022–2023, Mötley Crüe headlined the Stadium Tour alongside Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett — a co-headlining run that played sold-out stadium dates across five continents from June 2022 through November 2023. In 2025, the band held a 10-show Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM (September 12–October 3). Sixx is credited as writer or co-writer on all tracks across Mötley Crüe’s catalog, which has charted nine albums in the Billboard 200 Top 10 and generated 22 Top 40 Mainstream Rock hits.
Sixx’s wealth derives from multiple overlapping revenue streams accumulated over more than four decades:
Nikki Sixx has been married three times. His first marriage was to Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt in May 1989; they divorced in November 1996 and share three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born 1995). His second wife was Baywatch actress and Playmate Donna D’Errico, whom he married in 1996. They separated in April 2006 and divorced in June 2007. They share a daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx, born in 2001.
Sixx met his third wife, Courtney Bingham, through mutual friends in 2010. He proposed in November 2012 during a trip to St. Barths and the couple married on March 15, 2014, in a ceremony at a 55-room Gothic manor estate. In July 2019, when Sixx was 60 years old, they welcomed daughter Ruby Feranna Sixx — conceived through a sperm retrieval procedure and artificial insemination after Sixx had undergone a vasectomy. According to People, Courtney is an entrepreneur who co-founded Bouquet Box, a DIY floral kit company.
Sixx has been sober since 2004. He declared sobriety publicly that year following Mötley Crüe’s reunion, having battled addiction to heroin and other substances throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He maintains a primary residence in Jackson Hole, Wyoming — a move motivated, he has said, by the desire for outdoor activity and a quieter life outside Southern California — alongside the family’s Lake Sherwood, California property.
Sixx has been a supporter of Covenant House, a nonprofit serving homeless youth. In 2024, Mötley Crüe’s three-night Hollywood club residency (Höllywood Takeover) raised $350,000 for the organization.
Nikki Sixx’s net worth is estimated at $65 million as of 2026. His fortune was built primarily through Mötley Crüe’s catalog and publishing rights — including the band’s approximately $150 million recorded catalog sale to BMG in 2021, reported by Variety — as well as decades of touring revenue, ongoing royalties from songs like “Kickstart My Heart,” book royalties, and real estate transactions. As the band’s primary songwriter, Sixx wrote or co-wrote all tracks across Mötley Crüe’s nine studio albums.
Nikki Sixx’s wife is Courtney Sixx (née Bingham), whom he married on March 15, 2014. The couple met through mutual friends in 2010 and became engaged in November 2012. According to People, Courtney is an entrepreneur who co-founded Bouquet Box, a DIY floral kit company. The couple welcomed their daughter Ruby Feranna Sixx in July 2019. It is Nikki’s third marriage; he was previously married to Brandi Brandt (1989–1996) and Donna D’Errico (1996–2007).
Nikki Sixx is 67 years old as of March 2026. He was born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He adopted the stage name Nikki Sixx after relocating to Los Angeles at age 17 to pursue a music career in the late 1970s.
Nikki Sixx stands 6 feet 0 inches tall (183 cm). His height has been a consistent part of his commanding stage presence throughout Mötley Crüe’s career, particularly during the band’s peak arena and stadium touring years in the 1980s and 1990s.
Nikki Sixx has five children. With his first wife Brandi Brandt, he has three children: son Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born 1991), daughter Storm Brieann Sixx (born 1994), and son Decker Nilsson Sixx (born 1995). With second wife Donna D’Errico, he has daughter Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born 2001). With current wife Courtney Sixx, he has daughter Ruby Feranna Sixx, born July 27, 2019 — as reported by People — conceived via sperm retrieval and artificial insemination after Sixx had undergone a vasectomy.
Nikki Sixx does not receive a traditional annual salary, but his estimated annual earnings from ongoing royalties, licensing, and touring are substantial. The Mötley Crüe catalog generates consistent streaming and sync licensing revenue — “Kickstart My Heart” alone has over 222 million Spotify streams — and the band’s catalog sale to BMG for approximately $150 million in 2021 means future master recording royalties now flow through BMG. Active years with major tours, such as the 2022–2023 Stadium Tour, generate significantly higher annual income. The 2025 Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM (10 shows) also contributed touring income that year.
Nikki Sixx and his wife Courtney Sixx maintain a primary residence in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a move they made after more than four decades of Sixx living in Southern California. Sixx told People magazine the Wyoming ranch lifestyle — hiking, skiing, fishing, and open space — prompted the relocation. The couple also owns a European-style estate in Lake Sherwood, California (in the Santa Monica Mountains of Ventura County), purchased in November 2022 for $6.9 million and used as their West Coast base, as reported by Loudwire.