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Kickstart My Heart

1989 single by Mötley Crüe

Summary

1989 single by Mötley Crüe

Field	Value
name	Kickstart My Heart
cover	kickstart_my_heart.jpg
type	single
artist	Mötley Crüe
album	Dr. Feelgood
B-side	She Goes Down
released	November 20, 1989
genre	Glam metal
length	4:48
label	Elektra
writer	Nikki Sixx
producer	Bob Rock
prev_title	Dr. Feelgood
prev_year	1989
next_title	Without You
next_year	1990
misc	{{External music video
type	single
header	Music videos
1

| B-side = She Goes Down

"Kickstart My Heart" is a song by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, originally released on their 1989 album, Dr. Feelgood. Released as the album's second single in 1989, "Kickstart My Heart" reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States in early 1990.

Background

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx wrote "Kickstart My Heart" while the band was already working on Dr. Feelgood. He was playing acoustic guitar in his house while scribbling words on a piece of paper. When the group's former manager read the words, he encouraged Sixx to share it with the rest of the band. Sixx was reluctant, but eventually did show the band and the track came together quickly. The phrase "kickstart my heart" refers to Sixx's overdose incident where a paramedic injected his heart with adrenaline, though Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler disputed the story, saying he revived Sixx before the paramedics arrived.

Personnel

Mötley Crüe

Vince Neil – lead and backing vocals
Mick Mars – guitars, talk box
Nikki Sixx – bass
Tommy Lee – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Mark LeFrance – backing vocals
David Steele – backing vocals
Emi Canyn – backing vocals
Donna McDaniel – backing vocals
John Webster - Synth bass/keyboards

Charts

Chart (1989–1990)	Peak
position	Canada Top Singles (RPM)
51

Chart (2019)	Peak
position	Canada Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales	Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)
15
6

Certifications

Use in media

In 2025, Fox Sports adopted the song as the theme music for its coverage of the IndyCar Series. While originally intended as a placeholder by Fox's art director, it was positively received by colleagues and made permanent.

References

(February 5, 2014). "Readers' Poll: The 10 Greatest Hair Metal Songs".
"Top 20 Hair Metal Albums of the Eighties – Guitar World".
(5 April 2018). "The Ultimate Hair Metal Party Playlist".
"Watch Ten Second Song Guy Sing Mötley Crüe's Kickstart My Heart In 17 Different Styles".
"Allmusic (Motley Crue charts & awards) Billboard singles".
Robinson, Will. (2015-12-22). "Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx shares the stories behind the band's biggest songs".
Childers, Chad. (15 May 2018). "Steven Adler on Motley Crue's 'Kickstart My Heart' Actual Origins".
"Top RPM Singles: Issue 5105". [[RPM (magazine).
"Mötley Crüe – Canadian Digital".
"Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 13, 2019". [[Sverigetopplistan]].
"Inside Fox’s elevated, tech-focused redesign of IndyCar coverage".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1989-songs 1989-singles elektra-records-singles mötley-crüe-songs songs-based-on-actual-events songs-written-by-nikki-sixx music-videos-directed-by-wayne-isham song-recordings-produced-by-bob-rock

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