Nikki Sixx once claimed that Mötley Crüe were in secret negotiations with the US State Department to travel to Baghdad during the Iraq War to perform a Rolling Stones song

“I hate George Bush almost as much as I hate Kate Bush” – Nikki Sixx, during the Iraq War

As any history buff will tell you, a coalition led by the US invaded Iraq in March 2003. The following month, Baghdad was captured after a six-day battle, and in May George W. Bush famously declared the “end of major combat operations”. 

The story wouldn’t finish there, of course. The Iraq War continued until 2011, more than two thousand US soldiers remain in the country to this day, and the repercussions continue to reverberate around the globe.

Two years after the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections, paving the way for Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006. And, around the same time, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx offered his band’s service to the cause, with a little help from a song by the Rolling Stones.