Kelly Nickels (; born January 5, 1962) is a French-born American bassist who has played in various bands including Sweet Pain,

Faster Pussycat Faster Pussycat is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985 by vocalist Taime Downe, guitarists Greg Steele and Brent Muscat and bassist Kelly Nickels. The group has since gone through numerous lineup changes leaving Downe as ...

, and

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...

Career

Early years

Perret was born in

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, France, and moved to the United States when he was two; he lived in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

before moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is the nephew of French popular music guitarist and composer French popular music

Pierre Perret Pierre Perret (born 9 July 1934 in Castelsarrasin, Tarn-et-Garonne) is a French singer and composer. He lives in Nangis, France. Biography Perret spent much of his childhood in a café which his parents owned, where he learned to use jargon ...

Faster Pussycat

Perret started as a roadie and light man for the band Hotshot, early incarnation of

Danger Danger Danger Danger is an American hard rock band formed in Queens, New York, in 1986. History Danger Danger was formed in 1986 by former Hotshot members lead vocalist Mike Pont (joined in 1987), bassist Bruno Ravel, and drummer Steve West (joine ...

. He take on the pseudonym "Kelly Nickels". In 1981, Nickels briefly joined metal band Virgin Steele. After that he joined the band Sweet Pain in New York as a bassist, and released one album with them in 1985. Kelly and drummer Ronnie Taz quit Sweet Pain, and he was replaced by Victor Prestin. Nickels moved on to the band Faster Pussycat, but was badly injured in a motorcycle accident (at an intersection on the Sunset Strip in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, California) in October 1986. Due to this injury, his position in the band was replaced. His left leg was broken in seven different places. He was in the hospital for 3 months and had 10 different surgeries. He had to walk with a cane for many years afterwards.

L.A. Guns

In mid-1987, he had joined L.A. Guns. Nickels remained with the group throughout their most commercially successful period. He also wrote the band's big hit "The Ballad of Jayne." In addition to playing bass throughout his tenure with the group, he also sang lead vocals on the L.A. Guns song "Nothing Better To Do," from their 1994 album, ''

Vicious Circle A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the shor ...

''. However, he left the band shortly after this album was released. By the end of the 1990s, he was back in L.A. Guns, only to leave again in 2000.

Personal life

Nickels is divorced from Kelly Cunningham, the mother of actress

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991) Additional on October 9, 2016 is an American actress, singer and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror film, horror and thriller ...

. Nickels has a daughter (Grace) with Cunningham, born in 2001. He is also the founder of the clothing line Montauk Salvage Company.

Discography

Sweet Pain

* ''Sweet Pain'' (1985)

L.A. Guns

* ''

'' (1988) * ''

Cocked & Loaded ''Cocked & Loaded'' is the second studio album by American glam metal band L.A. Guns. Recorded at Hollywood studios One on One, Music Grinder and Conway Recording, it was produced by Duane Baron, John Purdell and Tom Werman, and released on A ...

'' (1989) * '' Hollywood Vampires'' (1991) * '' Cuts'' (1992) * ''

'' (1994) * '' Greatest Hits and Black Beauties'' (1999) *'' Hollywood Forever'' (2012) (Track 11) Riley's L.A. Guns *''Renegades'' (2020) *''The Dark Horse'' (2023)

References

External links

Kelly Nickels at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

1962 births Living people People from Montauban American people of French descent American bass guitarists L.A. Guns members Faster Pussycat members {{US-bass-guitarist-stub