Thomas Lee Bass was born 60 years ago in Athens, Greece, was married 4 times and has 2 children. He is best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band ‘Motley Crue’.
At the age of 4, Tommy got his first pair of drum sticks and a proper drum kit as a teenager. He listened to music by Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Kiss, amongst others. As he wanted to start a music career, he left high school and joined a band named ‘Suite 19’ and played with them in a Los Angeles Club.
In 1981, Lee created ‘Motley Crue’ with ex-members of other bands and their first album was released. Through that decade, the group had a number of successful hits like ‘Shout at the Devil’, ‘Theatre of Pain’, ‘Girls, girls, girls’ and ‘Dr Feelgood’. These made them one of the best 80s hard rock bands.
Tommy then decided to proceed as a solo artist but still joined ‘Motley Crue’ again on their 1999 tour. Afterwards, he formed the rap rock band ‘Methods of Mayhem’, released an album and went on tour.
Lee also collaborated with various other artists like Incubus, Nine Inch Nails and Rob Zombie and even produced an album for the funk rock band ‘Electric Love Hogs’.
Tommy’s first solo album was released in 2002, and that same year participated, together with his solo band, in the annual music festival ‘Ozzfest’, organised by rock star Ozzy Osbourne and his wife.
In 2005, Lee’s autobiography book was published, together with his second solo album featuring songs like ‘Good Times’ and ‘Hello, Again’. A year later, Lee created a new group called ‘Rock Star Supernova’ and shortly afterwards their first album was issued.
Tommy left ‘Motley Crue’ for good in 2007 but joined his ex-bandmates in a couple of tours, one in 2008 and a farewell tour in 2014.
Apart from music, Tommy starred in a couple of reality shows, a sitcom as well as a musical horror production. He is also an active philanthropist with regards to animal rights.