Two decades ago, Nikki Sixx traded one addiction for another. With hard drugs finally behind the MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist in 1989, he rediscovered an old obsession: photography. "Creativity was there for me first, drugs came second," Sixx told Rolling Stone last night, just before an onstage interview and lecture at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. "When you take the drugs out, every day is about creativity, whether it's songwriting, designing clothes or photography."

He now carries a camera with him everywhere, and last night revealed the results. For an intimate crowd of just 200 fans and guests (online ticket requests exceeded 5,000), Sixx shared images that were provocative and frequently macabre, as seen in his book This is Gonna Hurt: Photography and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx (William Morrow), which came out in April.

"My girlfriend sometimes says I need to put the camera down when we're in bed," Sixx said with a laugh. "I have a guitar next to me, and I have a camera next to me, and I love it."

Read more at Rolling Stone.

'This Is Gonna Hurt', the new video from SIXX: A.M. - the band featuring of Nikki Sixx, DJ Ashba (also GUNS N' ROSES) and James Michael can be viewed below. The song is the title track of the group's sophomore album, This Is Gonna Hurt, which is the follow up to 2008's The Heroin Diaries, and gave the band their first Top 10 debut on The Billboard 200 chart. The 11-track CD is also the companion album to Nikki Sixx's New York Times bestselling book, This Is Gonna Hurt, which debuted at #4.

This Is Gonna Hurt is a companion piece to Sixx's This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx book. This 224 page hardcover serves as both a prequel and sequel to The Heroin Diaries.

When asked if the success of his first book, The Heroin Diaries – a New York Times Bestseller in 2007 – inspire him to write a second? “Not so much. It feels nice that people got the book and got something out of it, that’s the best part. For me, it’s like every time someone has the book, they really went on a journey; they feel disgusted or they feel inspired. I feel like every time one of those books leaves the book shelf, something powerful’s going to happen. In that sense, I knew there was a lot of people watching for the opportunity to do something fantastic, but it wasn’t because of that book. This book (This Is Gonna Hurt) would have probably happened whether The Heroin Diaries did or not.”

Read the entire interview at BraveWords.com.