Was it really that strange to see our own Tom Gardner hanging out with Motley Crue's bassist and founding force, Nikki Sixx, this past weekend?
"It was like meeting a long-lost brother," Tom says about the meeting in Colorado at a bash for Aspen Peaks magazine. "We talked seriously at length about his investment goals. The Motley family is finally coming together."
Tom was moved by the meeting, and the feeling may have been mutual, as Nikki also singled Tom out in his online diary. One can argue that the Los Angeles-based headbanging quartet and the Virginia-based company that empowers individual investors have little in common. I beg to differ.
- Motley Crue sang about shouting at the devil, while Tom and his brother David riled up passive investors to get up and shout at their full-service brokers.
- Take the lyrics to "Girls, Girls, Girls" and replace the chorus with "Stocks, Stocks, Stocks," and you will have the perfect Wall Street anthem. OK, so you may want to alter some of the strip-club references, too.
- Some of the members of the Crue have had intimate videotapes leaked to the public. In the same vein, Tom and David once starred in their own PBS television special.
- "Looks That Kill" was an early hit for the rockers. "Loads That Kill" was an early mantra against high-load mutual funds around Fooldom.
- Nikki turned his recovery from heroin addiction in the late 1980s into the basis of The Heroin Diaries, while The Motley Fool survived its initial fascination with the flawed Styles on Video to learn from its shortcomings.
- Motley Crue got signed to Warner's (NYSE:WMG) Elektra label in the 1980s. America Online, which ultimately merged with former Warner Music Group parent Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), gave The Motley Fool its start a decade later.
Wait a minute, those last few points are actually legitimate connections. It also bears mentioning that Nikki has followed the lead of another famous bass player with a knack for theatrics -- Kiss' Gene Simmons -- in cashing in on his rock-and-roll celebrity to expand into new businesses.
Nikki's got a fledgling clothing line going on, as well as a book deal and a charitable campaign to lend a hand to runaway children. Reunion tours are also a hot commodity when the bandmates aren't promoting solo projects.
Making money your melody
There aren't too many artists who can grasp that kind of financial vision. Ever wonder why folks like MC Hammer or Billy Joel hit financial funks despite early stardom that should have set them up for life? You're not alone. Music celebrities often make poor financial decisions. If even the iconic Beatles had to hand over their song library to Sony (NYSE:SNE) recording star Michael Jackson for a quick buck, can a celebrity ever have enough stashed away for a rainy day?
Anyone stepping up to snag a Grammy this year would be well-served by picking up a few financial-planning books to boot. Some artists even make more than one mistake. Sorry, Paul McCartney, you shouldn't have skimped on that prenuptial agreement.
So maybe, instead of a rock camp for music stars, we can have Robert Brokamp set up some form of seminar for up-and-coming celebrities based on his Rule Your Retirement newsletter service, to help educate them while they're still young and loaded.
Britney Spears? There is still hope.
If you want to retire like a rich rock star, maybe a 30-day trial of Robert's newsletter service will strike the right chord with you.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz actually had his band signed to Sony's Columbia Records about 15 years ago. He knew, even then, that it pays to get an MBA and brush up on finances between recording sessions. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this article. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. Time Warner is a Stock Advisor pick. The Fool has adisclosure policy.
