20 things you might not know about Tommy Lee

On October 3rd, 1962, Tommy Lee was born. To mark the Motley Crue drummer’s birthday, here are 20 things you might not have known about him:

1. Tommy’s real name is Thomas Lee Bass.

2. Tommy’s dad was a Welsh Army sergeant.

3. Tommy’s Mom was Miss Greece 1957.

4. Tommy was born in Athens, Greece but came with his parents to California when he was one.

5. The rocker got his first drum when he was just four years old and his first drum kit as a teenager.

6. Tommy’s first band was called US 101 and he played with them while he was in high school.

7. Growing up, Tommy listened to Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Kiss, AC/DC and Sweet.

8. In high school, Tommy was in the marching band.

9. Tommy’s first successful band was Suite 19, which performed on the Sunset Strip in the late 70s.

10. When he was just starting out, Tommy got the nickname “T-Bone” because of his tall stature and skinny physique.

11. Tommy has mooned his audiences more than most other musicians.

12. Tommy has been a guest musician on songs by Richard Marx, Rob Zombie, Fall Out Boy and Courtney Love, plus he played drums on all of the songs on The Smashing Pumpkins’ 2014 albumMonuments to an Elegy.

13. Tommy doesn’t only play drums, he is a DJ as well, having spun at clubs across the continent.

14. In 2005, Tommy tried reality TV, starring in Tommy Goes to College, which documented the rocker attending the University of Nebraska for a few weeks.

15. In 2008, Tommy returned to reality TV to compete with rapper Ludacris on the series Battleground Earth. In it, the two musicians battled the toxic forces destroying the planet.

16. Tommy appears in the Tom Cruise film Vanilla Sky as “Frozen Vintage Car Man.”

17. On IMDB.com, Tommy gets a director credit for that video of him and Pamela Anderson Lee.

18. Tommy has been married three times including to Pamela, actress Heather Locklear and model Elaine Starchuk.

19. Tommy is an avid supporter of animal rights.

20. Tommy has over 50 tattoos, but doesn’t know the exact number since they blend together.

This article was first published on iheart.com and is republished here with permission