Mötley Crüe Shares Cover of Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right,” Regroup With Producer Bob Rock for New EP, ‘Cancelled,’

Mötley Crüe is returning with three new songs on their new EP Cancelled, out October 4. The EP marks the band’s first new material since their one-off single “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” from The Dirt soundtrack in 2019 and since joining Big Machine Rock in early 2024.

Cancelled also features the band’s previously released single “Dogs of War,” along with the title track, both written by Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and John Lowery, guitarist John 5, who replaced founding guitarist Mick Mars in 2022, along with an explosive cover of the Beastie Boys‘ 1986 hit “Fight For Your Right.”

Their previous single “Dogs of War” was accompanied by an AI-generated music video by director Nick DenBoer, featuring all four members of Mötley Crüe in a post-apocalyptic world.

The band started playing their cover of “Fight for Your Right” in 2023 at a secret show at The Underworld in London, where the bands advertised themselves as Dogs of War, and again at another intimate show at Bowery Ballroom in New York City earlier in 2024. The latter surprise show was linked to 1981, the year Mötley Crüe formed.

[RELATED: 8 Songs You Didn’t Know Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx Wrote for Other Artists]

On Cancelled, the band also reunited with producer Bob Rock, who worked on their No. 1 album Dr. Feelgood from 1989 and again on Crüe’s 1994 self-titled release.

“It was really great getting in the studio and working on some tracks together,” said Mötley Crüe in a joint statement. “What started out as a couple [of] demo ideas turned into this EP produced by Bob Rock. We look forward to getting back into the studio again soon and writing more new music, as well.”

The band is currently wrapping up their 2024 tour on October 13 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California, while celebrating the 35th anniversary of their multiplatinum hit album Dr. Feelgood.

“You know what was great about that record?” said Sixx of recording Dr. Feelgood in Vancouver and getting out of Los Angeles. “[Producer] Bob Rock said, ‘You guys have gotta get out of L.A. I need you guys, your undivided attention.’” Sixx added, “Aerosmith was staying at the same apartment, hotel thing. And there was like a gym downstairs. It’s Vancouver, it’s beautiful there. They had a lake right there. Every morning, we’d wake up, we’d go down to the gym, we’d work out, see the Aerosmith guys, and it was just this great energy happening.”

‘Cancelled’ Tracklist:

1. “Cancelled” (Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, John Lowery)

2. “Dogs of War” (Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, John Lowery)

3. “Fight For Your Right” (Adam Horovitz, Rick Rubin, Adam Yauch)

Photo: Ross Halfin / Courtesy of Big Machine Rock