Jun 30, 2026 · 2h 34m
Tommy Lee reveals the extreme physical toll of legendary drum solos
#2520 - Tommy Lee
This conversation offers a rare, intimate look at how one of rock's most notorious survivors maintains his physical health, creativity, and mental peace after decades of stadium-level performance.
- 1Rock drumming requires elite athletic endurance, with high-energy performances demanding miles of physical movement on stage.
- 2Playing drums suspended upside down on rotating roller coasters imposes an immense physical toll on the human body.
- 3Cultivating Bonsai trees serves as a vital therapeutic balance to the chaotic lifestyle of a touring rock star.
Don't miss
Tommy Lee explains the intense physical strain of playing drums upside down during his famous rotating roller-coaster solos.
The brief
Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee joins Joe Rogan to reflect on surviving decades of rock-and-roll excess, revealing the surprising physical toll of performing and the quiet hobbies that keep him grounded today.
While rock drumming is often viewed purely as performance art, Lee explains the extreme athletic demands of his career, once tracking himself moving over 13 miles during a single two-hour concert.
Lee details the intense physical strain of his famous rotating and roller-coaster drum solos, describing what it actually takes to play complex, high-energy percussion while suspended completely upside down.
Beyond the stage, the conversation shifts to unexpected personal passions, including Lee's deep appreciation for the Japanese art of Bonsai and how cultivating miniature trees provides a peaceful balance to a chaotic life.
Ultimately, the legendary musician looks back with gratitude on surviving the wild era of 1980s heavy metal, discussing the challenges of raising kids in Los Angeles and his excitement for returning to the touring stage.
What was said on this episode
69 statements · 30 positive · 28 negative · 2 mixed · 9 neutral
Patience, love, and time improve a marriage’s chances of lasting.
“you use some patience and some love and, like, mix it all around and put some time in there. And, you know, shit's like, your. Your survival rate is gonna be way better.”
Listen at 2:10
Music success results from luck, talent, and favorable timing aligning.
“There's some luck, some talent, timing of things. When those things kind of all line up and it happens for you”
Listen at 6:15
The Rolling Stones can perform successfully despite being heavily intoxicated before a show.
“Those guys were money, like, 100% rocking out.”
Listen at 12:41
Tommy Lee predicts he will still be performing rock music in ten years.
“That's going to. That's going to be me still 10 years.”
Listen at 15:44
Spotify releases approximately 300,000 songs daily.
“Spotify releases like 300 fucking thousand songs a day.”
Listen at 17:30
Excessive music availability makes original and high-quality music harder to discover.
“the excess of. It's just static and it's really blown a hole through for, you know, original stuff, you know, really good stuff.”
Listen at 17:47
Entertainment abundance and fragmented subscriptions make content difficult to find.
“There's an abundance of, like, it's just too much. How do people. People got these, you know, you know, you know, TV packages where they've got subscriptions 4,000 different places and you still can't find anything to watch.”
Listen at 19:59
Entertainment that fails to grab attention within three or four seconds loses its audience.
“if my shit isn't banging within the first, whether it's a movie or a song or whatever it is, whatever your art is, if it's not fucking ripping your face off and grabbing your attention within three or four seconds, you're next.”
Listen at 21:29
Record-label personnel should be excluded from the artist’s recording studio.
“when we were on Electra Records, they were never allowed in the studio”
Listen at 25:06
One Billy Squier music video caused a severe decline in his career.
“One music video tanked him.”
Listen at 28:50
Listening to “Kickstart My Heart” can increase motivation during strenuous activity.
“If you were running in a race and you're thinking about quitting and that song comes on your headphones, you're like, let's fucking go. Let's fucking.”
Listen at 33:26
Sound may provide therapeutic benefits for injured or sick people.
“I wouldn't be surprised that there's ways that sound could provide, like, therapeutic. Therapeutic benefits to, like, people that are injured, that are healing sickness.”
Listen at 40:28
“Bonsai” literally refers to a tree in a pot.
“Bonsai means tree. And pot. That's what that means. Actually, it doesn't mean the actual bonsai tree. It means tree in pot.”
Listen at 44:09
Bonsai cultivation likely originated in China.
“I think it actually originated In China.”
Listen at 44:36
Zen gardens deliberately use curved paths to slow visitors down.
“They specifically and strategically curve the path to slow you down”
Listen at 48:39
Minimal Japanese-inspired architecture is intended to make homes more peaceful.
“A lot of designs and homes are being built with that sort of very minimal Japanese flavor that is just meant to have your home be a peaceful place”
Listen at 50:39
Exposure to nature has therapeutic benefits.
“I think nature is very therapeutic.”
Listen at 51:32
Access to Central Park improves the well-being of New York City residents.
“for a person living in New York City, having that right there in the center is gigantic. I don't know what percentage of people take advantage of it, but they should all. It would make them all better. They all feel better.”
Listen at 53:20
Horses belong in fields and mountains rather than urban environments.
“No horse is supposed to be in the fields and the mountains.”
Listen at 56:11
Interaction with horses can be used as therapy.
“There's. There's a therapy with that too.”
Listen at 58:57
Tommy Lee sees no reason for him to stop smoking cigarettes after a favorable lung scan.
“So there's really no reason to quit.”
Listen at 1:02:28
Cigarette smokers develop lung cancer more often than nonsmokers.
“more cigarette smokers get lung cancer than regular people.”
Listen at 1:02:49
Smoking causes approximately 80–90% of lung cancer deaths.
“smoking still causes about 80 to 90% of the lung cancer deaths.”
Listen at 1:04:34
Olive oil consumption may protect smokers from some smoking-related harms.
“olive oil seems to protect. And it's a very controversial statement because people think, oh my God, you're promoting cigarettes.”
Listen at 1:04:53
Polyphenol-rich diets do not eliminate smoking-related cardiovascular, cancer, or lung risks.
“current evidence does not show they can neutralize the cardiovascular cancer or lung damage risk from smoking.”
Listen at 1:06:34
Joe Rogan believes cigarette smoking provides some cognitive benefit.
“I think there's some cognitive benefit.”
Listen at 1:08:32
Flying-car technology is substantially delayed and may never become widespread.
“There was supposed to be full Jetsons, bro. They're extremely late or it's never gonna happen.”
Listen at 1:11:18
Flying cars currently exist.
“Well, they do have flying cars now.”
Listen at 1:12:15
Flying cars should undergo several more years of development before adoption.
“Let those things get worked out for a few years.”
Listen at 1:12:33
Flying cars will probably become commonplace eventually.
“I think flying cars will probably be a thing one day.”
Listen at 1:16:55
Los Angeles’s film business has largely dried up.
“The film business is like dried up.”
Listen at 1:18:42
Los Angeles taxes and regulations make conducting business very difficult.
“they just punish you with taxes and they punish you with regulations. They punish you. They make it everything. Very difficult to conduct business.”
Listen at 1:19:05
Los Angeles would remain excessively large even after losing five million residents.
“You could lose 5 million people and LA is still too big.”
Listen at 1:20:16
Joe Rogan says his Tesla can autonomously drive, change lanes, and stop at red lights.
“my Tesla does auto driving. So if I want to, if I'm leaving here and there's some crazy traffic, for some reason, I just go. I just turn it on and it goes. I don't have to hit the blinkers. I don't have to change lanes. I don't have to stop at red lights.”
Listen at 1:22:46
Tommy Lee rejects multitasking as a genuine capability.
“That doesn't fucking exist.”
Listen at 1:25:42
Dividing attention between important tasks reduces performance on both.
“You're taking away some of your attention on what you're doing to pay attention to this other thing. And it's definitely making you less good at either one of those things.”
Listen at 1:25:51
Music is exceptionally useful as a workout companion.
“Music is the ultimate companion for working out.”
Listen at 1:26:37
David Goggins’s knees are severely damaged from endurance training.
“His knees are completely destroyed.”
Listen at 1:28:13
Playing drums upside down is physically three times harder than upright playing.
“Upside down. So it becomes three times harder physically.”
Listen at 1:36:19
Playing drums is among the most athletic activities in music.
“It's one of the most athletic things in all of music.”
Listen at 1:42:22
Tommy Lee attributes his slim physique partly to walking 13.3 miles during a two-hour show.
“I took it off after the show and I looked down and it said 13.3 miles. And I was like, so that's why I don't. That's why I'm just skinny and like, I just, I sweat it out.”
Listen at 1:43:36
Multiple drummers can create a powerful, rhythm-driven tribal response.
“The more drummers there are, like all of a sudden it just becomes this. This thing. It grows into this tribal like. Dude, everybody's just being moved by rhythm. Yeah. And it's so powerful.”
Listen at 1:47:46
Listeners will not engage with lyrics unless the music first retains their attention.
“No one's gonna even get to these words if you can't get them to stay listening.”
Listen at 1:52:41
A lasting passion can remain exciting and become increasingly compelling.
“Something that they're passionate about that remains a passion. It stays. And if anything grows as a passion, still Exciting, still enticing. Still captivates you.”
Listen at 1:54:47
The solar system is moving through space rather than remaining stationary.
“The whole thing's moving through space. It's not stationary.”
Listen at 1:55:39
Joe Rogan estimates Earth moved over fifteen trillion miles since Motley Crue’s breakthrough.
“So you're dealing with roughly 15 plus trillion miles.”
Listen at 1:59:00
The 1982 Corvette was among the few American cars worth buying.
“In 82, the Corvette was one of the only American cars worth buying.”
Listen at 2:00:35
Original Shelby Cobras are worth approximately millions of dollars.
“The old ones are worth like millions of dollars, dude.”
Listen at 2:05:41
Porsche is the only carmaker among those discussed that retained manual transmissions.
“Porsche is the only one who kept it.”
Listen at 2:11:57
Joe Rogan evaluates Ferrari’s newly released electric car as an unattractive failure.
“That was dog, dude. They that up hardcore. That looks like a joke.”
Listen at 2:12:21
The Ferrari 458 is Joe Rogan’s choice for Ferrari’s best-looking masterpiece.
“I think the 458 is their masterpiece. I think it's the best looking Ferrari that they ever made.”
Listen at 2:14:03
A Lamborghini he drove on a track handled somewhat loosely.
“I drove one once on a track. It was a little loose.”
Listen at 2:16:44
High-performance cars impose enough driving difficulty to keep drivers cautious.
“Those kind of cars were. Will definitely check you keep you in check too.”
Listen at 2:17:26
The factory Corvette ZR1 has 1,000 horsepower and reaches 60 mph in two seconds.
“It has 1000 horsepower from the factory. So you could just go into a Corvette dealership if you got the cash, slap down some money and you have, have a thousand horsepower car that goes zero to 60 in two seconds.”
Listen at 2:18:12
Drivers should need pilot’s licenses for cars with extreme performance.
“You have to have a pilot's license to drive one of those things.”
Listen at 2:18:34
Insufficient understanding of high-speed cornering can cause a fatal crash.
“If you don't understand about going into a turn at 100 miles an hour, you're going to die, you know.”
Listen at 2:19:31
Ferrari’s electric car lacks the experiential qualities of its conventional sports cars.
“You're experiencing something that, you know, the other people are. You're driving that stupid Ferrari piece of electric car. You're not experiencing that.”
Listen at 2:20:55
Ferrari cars command at least roughly a quarter-million-dollar price.
“Someone's paying a quarter million dollars for this thing and now a lot more.”
Listen at 2:22:08
Consumers will not spend $400,000 on Ferrari’s electric car.
“Nobody going to spend $400,000 on. On this electric thing.”
Listen at 2:22:24
The Ferrari SF90 is among the best-looking cars ever made.
“SF90 is one of the best looking cars ever.”
Listen at 2:23:04
Ferrari will recover from its current electric-car design misstep.
“Ferrari, still Ferrari, they'll bounce back.”
Listen at 2:26:12
Ferrari should probably exit electric cars because consumers generally dislike other EVs.
“that's what they probably should because most of the other car companies that do make electric cars, people really don't want.”
Listen at 2:26:20
Consumers generally do not want electric cars, especially used ones.
“Nobody wants electric cars. Especially used electric cars.”
Listen at 2:26:36
Consumers generally perceive electronics as disposable products.
“electronics we think of as disposable”
Listen at 2:26:42
A ten-year-old Tesla can still be an excellent car.
“Get a 10 year old Tesla, it's a awesome car.”
Listen at 2:26:54
A 2005 Porsche remains valuable and popular with buyers.
“a 2005 Porsche. Still very valuable. People love those things.”
Listen at 2:27:06
Porsche prices have risen sharply recently as collectors buy them.
“Those things have gone through the roof lately. Like with the Porsches. Yeah. Just know so many guys that are Just like buying them up, collecting them.”
Listen at 2:27:10
As vehicles become more electric, people will increasingly value engine sound and tactile driving feel.
“as things become more electric and more numb, people like, they really love the sound of engines and the feel that you get from those cars.”
Listen at 2:27:21
AI-generated music will increase demand for live musical performances.
“I think with AI and music and everything, people are going to want to see live performances more”
Listen at 2:27:36
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
