James Michael recently shared a disheartening update on Sixx:A.M. during a conversation with Bad Brad.
He revealed, “The part that I found the most stressful and the most nightmare-inducing was when there were political differences within the band. When Nikki and I weren’t getting along or when DJ and I weren’t getting along or when all of us weren’t getting along.”
Michael continued, “That was the stuff that just killed me because we were all friends and I could just see the pressures of the industry making us all behave differently than I think we would have liked to behave. And that’s the part that I look back on with great regret.”
Reflecting on the situation, he added, “I look back on those times and I think I wish I would have handled that better. I wish I would have been a better person in that situation. I wish I wouldn’t have let these outside pressures turn me into something that I wasn’t or make me say things that I didn’t mean and things like that.”
Michael concluded with, “I think that the lesson that I took away from all of that is while it might be challenging, it might seem impossible just be a good guy just be the kind of guy that you want to hang around with because that’s really what this is.”
Sixx:A.M.’s last studio album, ‘Prayers for the Blessed,’ was released in 2016. In 2022, Michael shared his thoughts on working with Nikki Sixx on the In the Trenches podcast with Ryan Roxie. He said, “To answer the question of what it’s like to work with Nikki and DJ, It’s that chemistry that you hope you find when you are in this music industry.”
He added, “You hope you get lucky enough to meet a guy or a couple of guys you jell with and can work with on every level — professional and personal. And that’s what it’s been like.”
Apart from Sixx:A.M., Michael also collaborated with Sixx in Mötley Crüe, co-writing songs for the band’s 2000 album ‘New Tattoo’ and producing their 2008 album ‘Saints of Los Angeles.’ He also co-wrote songs for that album.
