1981–1983: Early history and Too Fast for Love

The nucleus of the group first came together in early 1981, when former Suite 19 guitarist/lead vocalist, and one-time member of Quiet Riot and Dokken, Greg Leon and drummer Tommy Lee decided to form a new band. They attended the farewell gig of a popular local band called London, and Lee was already impressed by the image and stage presence of their bassist, Nikki Sixx. Even before meeting Sixx, Lee claims he had posters of London on his bedroom walls. "Tommy just loved how Nikki looked", recalled Leon. "He was gung-ho about him, saying, 'This is the guy we should get'." Sixx auditioned twice but Leon felt he was "awful", telling Lee "He looks great. He's great on stage. But he can't play bass at all."

1983–1991: International fame and addiction struggles

In January 1983, Swedish teen music and pop culture magazine Okej described Mötley Crüe as "a mix of Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Kiss, New York Dolls and Judas Priest — who knows, maybe that's exactly the right combination," characterising the band as "the new American supergroup from Los Angeles" who "can best be described as the kind of friend your mother warned you about hanging around with."

The band became better known in the United States after playing at the US Festival on May 29, 1983. Their second album, Shout at the Devil, was released on September 26, 1983. The album represented the band's mainstream breakthrough in America and would eventually be certified 4× platinum. The album was mentioned by an ABC news reporter in a piece on conservative Christian groups complaining about modern Satanism. They gained the attention of Ozzy Osbourne, and became a support act on his 1984 tour for Bark at the Moon. The band members were developing a reputation for their backstage antics, outrageous clothing, extreme high-heeled boots, heavily applied make-up, and seemingly endless abuse of alcohol and drugs. In December 1984, Neil crashed his De Tomaso Pantera, killing his passenger, then-Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley. Neil, charged with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter, was sentenced to 30 days in jail (although he served only 18 days) and subsequently was sued for $2,500,000. The short jail term was negotiated by his lawyers, enabling Neil to tour and pay the civil suit.

1992–2003: Years of turmoil

Neil left the band in February 1992 following the release of Decade of Decadence, during a period in which most other prominent glam metal bands of the 1980s were breaking up or otherwise seeing their popularity decline significantly amid the advent of grunge and alternative music. It remains unclear whether Neil was fired or had quit the band. Sixx has long maintained that Neil quit, while Neil insists that he was fired. "Any band has its little spats," Neil observed in 2000, "and this one basically just stemmed from a bunch of 'fuck yous' in a rehearsal studio. It went from 'I quit' to 'You're fired' ... It was handled idiotically. The management just let one of the biggest bands in the world break up."

2004–2007: Reunion and renewed success

A promoter in England, Mags Revell, began clamoring for a Mötley Crüe reunion, ostensibly presenting himself as the voice of anxious fans waiting for more from the band. After meeting with management several times, in September 2004, Sixx announced that he and Neil had returned to the studio and had begun recording new material. In December 2004, the four original members announced a reunion tour, staging an announcement event in which they arrived at the Hollywood Palladium in a hearse. The tour began on February 14, 2005, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The resulting compilation album, Red, White & Crüe, was released in February 2005. It features the band members' favorite original songs plus three new tracks, "If I Die Tomorrow", "Sick Love Song" (co-written by Sixx and James Michael), and a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man". A small controversy was caused when it was suggested that neither Lee nor Mars played on the new tracks (duties were supposedly handled by Vandals drummer Josh Freese). However, a VH1 documentary of the band's reunion later showed that Lee did indeed play on some of the tracks. The Japanese release of Red, White & Crüe includes an extra new track titled "I'm a Liar (and That's the Truth)". Red, White & Crüe charted at No. 6 and has since gone platinum.

2008–2010: Saints of Los Angeles

Vince Neil (not the band) hosted the Motley Cruise from January 24 to 28 in 2008; this featured Ratt, Skid Row and Slaughter. On June 11, 2008, Mötley Crüe and manager Burt Stein filed suit against each other. Stein was Neil's personal manager and, according to the band and rival manager Kovac, served as the band's manager at one time. The band and Kovac sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming Stein was not entitled to a cut of Mötley Crüe's earnings. Stein sued the same day in Nashville's federal court, saying he was entitled to 1.875 percent of what the band makes. Other litigation between the parties arose in Nevada. In July 2009, lawyers for both sides announced that the disputes had been "amicably resolved" through a "global settlement".

2011–2015: The Final Tour and retirement from touring

Mötley Crüe co-headlined a mid-year tour with Poison and special guests New York Dolls in 2011 for the band's 30th Anniversary and Poison's 25th anniversary. On August 30, 2011, Mötley Crüe, along with co-headliners Def Leppard and special guests Steel Panther, announced a UK Tour commencing in December 2011. In February 2012 the band appeared along with supermodel Adriana Lima in a commercial for the Kia Optima, which premiered during Super Bowl XLVI. In the same month the band hosted its first residency at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In March 2012, Mötley Crüe announced a co-headlining tour with Kiss. The tour kicked off July 20 in Bristow, Virginia, and ran through September 23. In the spring and summer of 2013 the band toured throughout Canada with Big Wreck. The band returned to Las Vegas for a second residency in the fall of 2013.

2018–2022: Reunion, The Dirt film and return to touring

In 2017, frontman Vince Neil told host Sammy Hagar on the show Rock and Roll Road Trip that Mötley Crüe were "completely done". However, on September 13, 2018, Neil announced via Twitter that Mötley Crüe was recording four new songs; this was later confirmed by bassist Nikki Sixx, who said that the new material was recorded for the film adaptation of the band's biography, The Dirt. Neil clarified that, though the band has signed a contract to no longer tour, they still plan to continue putting out new music for the future.

Netflix released The Dirt biopic based on the book of the same name that coincided with an 18-song soundtrack on March 22, 2019. The film is directed by Jeff Tremaine (Jackass), produced by Julie Yorn and Erik Olsen, executive produced by Rick Yorn, and co-produced by Kovac, who is Mötley Crüe's manager, CEO of Eleven Seven Label Group and founder of Tenth Street Entertainment. The Dirt stars Daniel Webber as Neil, Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones) as Mars, Douglas Booth as Sixx and Colson Baker (a.k.a. Machine Gun Kelly) as Lee. Also starring in the movie is Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live) as record executive Tom Zutaut. Rolling Stone wrote that The Dirt is "a truly debauched movie that delves deep into their rise from the early Eighties Sunset Strip metal scene to their days as arena headliners." The film portrays many of the adventures the band went on including touring with Ozzy Osbourne and the Theatre of Pain tour.

2022–present: Retirement of Mick Mars and Cancelled

On October 26, 2022, Mick Mars retired as a touring member of the band due to ongoing health issues, according to a statement released by Mars' publicist. The next day, the band confirmed that John 5 would take Mars' place as their new touring guitarist, although he was later confirmed as a permanent member of the band in April 2023. In a December interview with A Radio Rock in Brazil, Sixx confirmed that the band was not going away anytime soon, and stated that the band would be touring for "at least eight more years". On April 6, 2023, Mars sued the band, alleging that they were trying to remove him. In response to the lawsuit, the band issued a statement on the same day, denying that they had fired Mars, and that while he was still a member, had quit touring.