#2520 - Tommy Lee

Episode of The Joe Rogan Experience · June 30, 2026 · 2 h 29 min

Joe Rogan and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee discuss aging rock stars, music industry excess, bonsai, drumming stunts, muscle cars, and Ferrari's electric car.

Summary

Tommy Lee, drummer and co-founder of Mötley Crüe, joined Joe Rogan shortly before his son's wedding. The two discussed the chaos of rock stardom, with Lee recounting watching the Rolling Stones perform flawlessly after drinking heavily backstage, and both praised older performers such as Rick Springfield for still touring. Lee argued that the sheer volume of new music on streaming services creates static that only authentic work breaks through, while Rogan criticized record-industry executives and cited Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonight" video as a career-ending misstep.

Lee described his eight-year devotion to bonsai, inspired by Japanese gardens, explaining that curved Zen garden paths are designed to slow visitors down. The conversation moved through nature and Central Park, a fatal horse-carriage accident in New York, smoking and lung cancer statistics, Los Angeles traffic and decline, audiobooks, and David Goggins' refusal to train with music.

Lee explained the engineering behind his upside-down and roller-coaster drum rigs, inspired by watching audiences ignore Tommy Aldridge's drum solo, and said a pedometer recorded 13.3 miles of movement during a show. The hosts then discussed cars at length, from Lee's first purchase, a 1982 Corvette, and his stereo-less Ferrari Testarossa, to their shared disdain for Ferrari's new electric car. Lee closed by previewing Mötley Crüe's summer tour and describing the joy of seeing fans' children at shows.

Chapters

0:13
Son's wedding and rock star chaos
Lee discusses his son's upcoming wedding and the two reflect on the dangers of the Los Angeles rock scene.
6:53
The Rolling Stones and aging rockers
Lee recounts opening for the Rolling Stones and the pair marvel at Rick Springfield and other veteran performers.
12:43
Too much content and the music business
They discuss streaming overload, short attention spans, record executives, and Billy Squier's infamous video.
29:07
Power of music and sound healing
Discussion of Kickstart My Heart, the emotional power of songs, the 432 Hz theory, and sound therapy.
36:07
Bonsai and Zen gardens
Lee explains his eight-year bonsai practice and the design philosophy of Japanese gardens.
46:34
Nature, Central Park, and horses
They praise Central Park, discuss a fatal carriage accident, and share views on riding animals.
55:00
Smoking and vices
Lee talks about failing to quit cigarettes and Rogan looks up lung cancer statistics and polyphenol research.
1:05:24
Flying cars, LA, and audiobooks
Conversation on flying cars, the Sky King documentary, Lee's song Stupid World, LA decline, and David Goggins.
1:24:01
Early Mötley Crüe and drum stunts
Lee recalls 1980s fame, his father's homemade pyro and risers, and the engineering of his rotating drum kits.
1:34:03
Drumming and songwriting
Lee describes drumming's athleticism, being self-taught, hand drums, and his rhythm-first songwriting.
1:51:24
Cars from Corvette to Ferrari
They discuss Lee's first Corvette, Testarossa, classic muscle cars, and criticize Ferrari's electric car.
2:18:02
Upcoming tour and multigenerational fans
Lee previews the summer tour after a long break and describes seeing fans' children at shows.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Tommy Lee
Lee argues that the flood of new releases on streaming services makes it impossible to keep up and much of it sounds the same.
“there's too much music. Like, Spotify releases, like, 300 fucking thousand songs a day. Really? Who the fuck is listening to all this music, dude?”
Listen from 13:54 · Music streaming oversaturation
Tommy Lee
Lee says creators now must grab attention within seconds because audiences skip quickly.
“if it's not fucking ripping your face off and grabbing your attention within three or four seconds, you're next”
Listen from 18:26 · Music streaming oversaturation
Tommy Lee
Lee says Mötley Crüe barred label representatives from the studio after one tried to make edits.
“when we were on Electro Records, they were never allowed in the studio. No one from the label”
Listen from 21:57 · Mötley Crüe
Joe Rogan
Rogan believes a single music video ended Billy Squier's career at its peak.
“he could have been another John Mellencamp. He could have gone on forever”
Listen from 28:49 · Rock Me Tonight (Billy Squier video)
Joe Rogan
Rogan says sound clearly has a profound effect on the body and he would not be surprised if it had therapeutic benefits.
“I wouldn't be surprised that there's ways that sound could provide therapeutic benefits to people that are injured, that are healing, sickness”
Listen from 35:32 · 432 Hz tuning
Linked moment · 36:07Skip to 36:07 using a listen link in the info box.
Tommy Lee
Lee describes bonsai as the best thing he has ever gotten into and says he spends hours on it daily.
“hands down the coolest fucking thing I've ever gotten into, man. Like I'll be out there for hours every day”
Listen from 37:54 · Bonsai
Tommy Lee
Lee explains that Zen garden paths are deliberately curved to slow visitors down.
“They specifically and strategically curve the path to slow you down”
Listen from 43:42 · Japanese Zen gardens
Joe Rogan
Rogan argues Los Angeles is declining as film, TV, and late-night work dries up while taxes and regulations punish residents.
“The problem is it's like slowly becoming a new Detroit. It's like slowly, the film business is like dried up”
Listen from 1:11:46 · Los Angeles
Tommy Lee
Lee questions whether reports of an exodus from Los Angeles are exaggerated, since he notices no difference in traffic.
“you tell me this many people left, I don't see it. And I wonder if that's not maybe a, I don't know, a hyped statistic”
Listen from 1:13:08 · Los Angeles
Tommy Lee
Lee explains that playing upside down is about three times harder and required springs on pedals and hi-hat.
“Instead of gravity pulling your hand down, right? Right. Now you've got to push. Oh, yeah. You're upside down. So it becomes three times harder physically”
Listen from 1:29:23 · Drum solo stage rigs
Tommy Lee
Lee says he began building elaborate drum rigs after seeing audiences leave during Tommy Aldridge's drum solo.
“I need to figure out... A, how to give the audience a better view of what you're actually doing there because people can't see”
Listen from 1:31:57 · Drum solo stage rigs
Tommy Lee
Lee says a pedometer showed he covered 13.3 miles of movement during a two-hour show, explaining his unchanged weight.
“I fucking took it off after the show, and I looked down, and it said 13.3 miles”
Listen from 1:35:18
Tommy Lee
Lee prioritizes rhythm and movement over lyrics when writing songs.
“No one's going to even get to these fucking words if you can't get them to stay listening”
Listen from 1:44:23
Joe Rogan
Rogan calls Ferrari's new electric car a design failure that looks cheap compared with its other models.
“That looks like a joke. That looks like something that someone made for just to get engagement online”
Listen from 2:03:07 · Ferrari electric car
Joe Rogan
Rogan predicts that as music and technology become more digital and AI-driven, people will value live performance more.
“as things get more and more digital, I think with AI and music and everything, people are going to want to see live performances more”
Listen from 2:18:16
Tommy Lee
Lee says the band took its first extended break since 2016 after a two-and-a-half-year stadium tour with Def Leppard.
“We did this big stadium tour with Def Leppard, went all around the world. That tour was, fuck, two and a half years long”
Listen from 2:18:53 · Mötley Crüe

People

In the conversation

Joe RoganAmerican comedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
Tommy LeeDrummer and co-founder of Mötley Crüe, solo musician and producer

Discussed

Keith RichardsRolling Stones guitarist
Mick JaggerRolling Stones lead singer
Rick SpringfieldAustralian-American singer known for Jessie's Girl
Billy SquierAmerican rock singer of the 1980s
Zach BryanAmerican country singer-songwriter
David GogginsAmerican ultra-endurance athlete and author among Prince's clients
Tommy AldridgeRock drummer who played with Pat Travers
Enzo FerrariFounder of Ferrari
Jony IveFormer Apple designer involved in Ferrari's electric car
Travis BarkerBlink-182 drummer
Roger WatersPink Floyd co-founder
Ari ShaffirAmerican stand-up comedian, storyteller and host of the podcast You Be Trippin'
Stephen KingAmerican horror novelist and Chizmar's collaborator on the Gwendy books

Topics

From the publisher

Tommy Lee is a genre-spanning solo musician, producer, and songwriter as well as the drummer and co-founder of Mötley Crüe. His latest album is “Tommyland Rides Again.” See him live with Mötley Crüe on The Return of the Carnival of Sins Tour beginning July 17.www.youtube.com/tommyleewww.motley.comwww.tommylee.com Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Don’t miss out on all the action this week at DraftKings! Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using https://dkng.co/rogan or through my promo code ROGAN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 29, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Music·Music Interviews·Automotive