Mötley Crüe's Wildest Decade Was the 1980s. Here Are the Photos to Prove It.

Who partied harder than Mötley Crüe in the '80s? No one. Just ask them. Much of the debauchery of Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, and Mick Mars—the trashed hotel rooms, the even more trashed celebrity friends (Ozzy Osborne, most memorably), the truckloads of drugs—was recounted in one of the most notorious rock n' roll tell-alls ever: The Dirt. Written by all of the band members and journalist Neil Strauss and released in 2001, it's an ode to being obliterated that exists almost without precedent. With the release of Netflix's adaptation of the same name, we take a look back at the group.

Mötley Crüe was formed in Los Angeles by Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, and Mick Mars in 1981.

Neil (center) initially didn't want to join the band, but Lee (right), a high school friend, convinced him to reconsider. On April 1, 1981, Neil officially joined.

The band's first gig was at the Starwood nightclub on April 24, 1981. Rumor has it that Sixx worked at the venue at the time and begged his boss for the gig.

On November 10, 1981, the band's first album, Too Fast for Love, came out.

The band was equally known for their music as their backstage antics, outrageous clothing, extreme hair and makeup, and seemingly endless abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Neil is best known for being the lead vocalist of Mötley Crüe, but has also released three solo albums.

Neil is also known for his turbulent personal life, which included multiple arrests and convictions.

Lee was the band's longtime drummer. He was sometimes called "T-bone" due because of his tall (6' 2½") and thin frame.

Sixx was the band's lead bassist and wrote most of Mötley Crüe's hits, including "Live Wire," "Home Sweet Home," "Girls, Girls, Girls," and "Kickstart My Heart."

Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister. After being fired from the band, he founded London with his Sister bandmate, Lizzie Grey. Third time's a charm, because his next venture was Mötley Crüe. Here he is performing at a concert in New York City in 1984.

Mars joined the group after putting an ad in a Los Angeles newspaper in April 1980, saying he was "a loud, rude, and aggressive guitar player" looking for a band to join. Sixx and Lee saw it, reached out, and the rest is history.

Mars has struggled with ankylosing spondylitis for most of his career, a form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. He was diagnosed when he was 17 years old.

Sixx and Lee backstage at the Monsters of Rock Festival on August 18, 1984 in just one example of their unique fashion choices.

Neil performing at Madison Square Garden during the Shout at the Devil Tour on January 15, 1984.

The band's second album, Shout at the Devil, represented the band's mainstream breakthrough and would eventually be certified 4x platinum. It also gained the attention of Ozzy Osbourne and is the reason the band was his opening act for the Bark at the Moon tour in 1984.

Mötley Crüe and Osbourne met during a sound check in Maine and immediately hit it off—so much so that Osbourne moved into the Crüe's tour bus after meeting. Here they are at the Ozzy Osbourne Concert After-Party at Peter Gatien's Limelight Entertainment Complex in New York City in 1984.

Mötley Crüe's hard-partying and drug-fueled ways reportedly almost shattered the band, until their managers pulled an intervention. All the band members eventually went to rehab, except Mars who cleaned up on his own.

Sixx and Neil performing onstage in Connecticut in 1985.

Lee fooling around at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City in 1985. During the band's performances, Lee was known for mooning the crowd at nearly every show.

Sixx and Jon Bon Jovi in Los Angeles in 1985. Bon Jovi once praised "You're All I Ever Need" as "the best ballad Mötley Crüe have ever written." Sixx reportedly laughed when he heard this, because of the gruesome meaning behind the song.

After their hard rock and heavy metal origins, the band joined the first wave of glam metal following their third album in 1985, Theatre of Pain.

Lee backstage in Los Angeles in 1985. His hair largely went unchanged throughout the '80s.

Lee liked to wear daring fashion choices on stage, which often meant as little clothing as possible. Here he is at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1986.

Mötley Crüe posing backstage at the Rosemont Horizon in Illinois before taking the stage.

Lee backstage with actress wife, Heather Locklear, in Los Angeles. The pair were married from 1986 to 1993.

The band was known for their elaborate live performances, which sometimes included flamethrower guitars, roller-coaster drums, and heavy use of pyrotechnics.

Neil performing with a plume of fire behind him (a popular stage component for them) at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1986.

Lee used several memorable gimmicks during his drum solos at concerts, including a revolving and spinning set as well as rigging his drums to float above the crowd while he played.

Mars and Neil, often joined forces together onstage, as seen here.

Neil and actress Heather Thomas at Farm Aid 2 in Austin, Texas in 1986. The performance was aired live on VH1 and millions of viewers tuned in to watch performances by Alabama, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Beach Boys, and more.

The band's fourth album, Girls, Girls, Girls debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 1987. Sixx once claimed that the album would have debuted at No. 1 had it not been for Whitney Houston's record label.

Mötley Crüe attending the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. They were nominated for Best Heavy Metal Video the following year for "Kickstart My Heart."

In 1991, the band's first compilation album, Decade of Decadence 81-91, was released and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Neil left the group in February 1992.

The band went through several lineup changes over the decades, including vocalist John Corabi replacing Neil from 1992 to 1996 and drummers Randy Castillo and Samantha Maloney filling in for Lee during his split from the band from 1999 to 2004.

Neil's first solo album, Exposed, was released in 1993 and debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard charts. By 1997, Neil's solo career and Mötley Crüe were struggling, so the band reunited.

Today, the band has sold 100 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands ever.

Some more accolades: Mötley Crüe was ranked tenth on MTV's list of "Top 10 Heavy Metal Bands of All-Time" and ninth on VH1's "All Time Top Ten Metal Bands."

The group was inducted into the RockWalk in Hollywood, California in 1997. The center honors individuals and bands who made a lasting and important contribution to music.

They were also presented with the Elmer Valentine Award for their contributions to the history of The Sunset Strip in 2011—and the City of West Hollywood named a special day in their honor.

Neil, Sixx, Lee, and Mars photographed alongside their opening act, Alice Cooper, in 2015 during their last European press conference for the band's final tour.

Mötley Crüe performed for the last time together at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on December 31, 2015. The show was released in 2016, titled Motley Crue: THE END.

Arriving in 2019 at the premiere of the Netflix biopic The Dirt, which is based on the band's best-selling book. The band also released four new songs for the film's soundtrack, which reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200.