Yesterday (Feb. 22), Motley Crue dropped "The Dirt (Est. 1981)," the first of four new songs featured on the soundtrack to The Dirt biopic. One of those songs, curiously, is a cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin," and in an interview with Billboard, Nikki Sixx explained how that cover came to fruition and how the band managed to add a touch of Metallica to the track.

As part of his daily meditative practice, Sixx takes a walk with his dogs at the end of the day, which is where the idea to cover the pop star's smash hit arose. "When my mind’s open like that, these ideas pop in and [it] popped in my head, and I sort of like looked up, as if to laugh at God, and went, ‘You’re pretty funny,'" the bassist confessed.

Despite it being his own idea, Sixx wasn't sold at first, initially thinking it was "actually a really horrible idea." Producer Bob Rock wasn't on board either, but a demo version of the track presented by Sixx and Tommy Lee changed his mind. Motley Crue completely reworked the track and even tipped their collective hat in the direction of Metallica.

Sixx explained there's a section of the cover track that "does this little gahnk-guh-guh-guh-guh-guh-gahnk that Mick does, a bit of a nod to Metallica because [when] Metallica heard the Dr. Feelgood album, [they] used Bob Rock to make the 'Black Album,'" adding, "It’s kind of a nod back to those guys because we were workin’ with Bob again."

While the music may have been overhauled, Madonna's original lyrics survived the process unscathed. "It was weird to hear Vince [Neil] singing, ‘I’m like a virgin,'" Sixx commented.

The Dirt arrives on Netflix on March 22. Watch the first official trailer here.

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