Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee has never been one for diets, gym routines or watching what he eats — and yet, decades into one of rock and metal’s most physical gigs, the scale hasn’t budged since his teenage years.
On a new episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience“, Lee finally explained why, and the answer comes down to a single number he clocked with a gadget on his shoe.
Curious about how his weight had held steady for so long despite eating whatever he wanted, Lee decided to run an experiment. He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“I was, like, ‘Okay, how come I’ve weighed the same weight since f**king high school till today?’ And I’m, like, ‘That’s f**king weird.’ And I eat kind of whatever the f**k I wanna eat. I don’t diet or have some strict regimented food program. I was, like, ‘I gotta see.’ I got one of those — this was years ago — it was like a pedometer you clip on to your shoe, like joggers would use it to… There’s the old version. You just clipped it on your shoe, and it told you how many miles you did. So I’m, like, I get one, I clip it on. I’m, like, ‘I wonder what, how many f**king miles I’m doing after a two-hour show. I don’t know. F**k. Who knows?’ I know I’m sweaty as f**k, and after the show, alls I hear is ringing in my ear, and I’m f**king — I’m wrecked; I’m done. And I f**king took it off after the show, and I looked down, and it said 13.3 miles. And I was, like, ‘So that’s why I’m a skinny f**k.'”
For Lee, the takeaway is that drumming in a hard rock band belongs in a different category from music altogether. He described it as “more like a sport” — and made the case that the man behind the kit carries the whole show on his back:
“People say your band’s only as good as your drummer, and that’s really f**king — it’s really true, and I’m not just saying that ’cause I’m a f**king drummer. But a drummer has a lot of responsibility, man. Everybody, all the people that you see out there that are f**king moving, I’m responsible for a lot of that. And I’m not saying for all of it, but you sort of set the pace and you’re making people physically move. That takes a lot of work. The amount of energy you’re putting out you’re getting back, and you’re seeing it, and you’re, like, ‘F**k, I’m driving here.’ And that’s a cool place to be. But it is a responsibility, and it is physical, and it’s draining. But it’s f**king rad. I live for it.”
He’ll get to burn off plenty more miles soon enough. Mötley Crüe‘s upcoming “The Return Of The Carnival Of Sins” tour doubles as a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the band’s elaborate 2005–2006 “Carnival Of Sins” production and their 45th anniversary as a band. The 33-city trek, produced by Live Nation, kicks off July 17, 2026 – The Pavilion at Star Lake, Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, with Extreme and Tesla along as support across the run.
The band has also tied the tour to a cause: $1 from every ticket sold will go to ASAP! (After School Arts Program) through the Mötley Crüe Giveback Initiative, funding hands-on arts programs for young people.
