As the year comes to a close and more data rolls in about all of the top things that happened in 2022, Google’s Year in Search data reveals that Tommy Lee was one of the top-trending musician searches of the year in the U.S., and we think we know why. Spoiler alert — it has nothing to do with Motley Crue.
Sure, Crue finally embarked on their Stadium Tour with Def Leppard this year, but if you follow the drummer on social media, then chances are, you were innocently scrolling through your timeline one morning in August when you came across his most outrageous post of all-time. The rocker shared a full-frontal nude of himself, which was taken down by Instagram, but not before thousands of people became victim to it.
“Ooooopppsss,” Lee wrote as the photo caption on Instagram. His wife, Brittany Furlan Lee, was obviously not aware that he was posting it until after the fact, as she left a comment on it saying, “OH MY GOD.”
Lee also posted the photo on his Twitter, which is a platform that allows nudity. It’s… still there, for those who are interested in seeing it.
Alas, a Google graph shows that August was the peak period for Tommy Lee searches on Google. However, he’s done some other, er, noteworthy things since then, such as breaking his ribs, throwing actual ribs into the crowd during a show, launching an OnlyFans account, pulling a Dachshund (aka “Weiner dog”) out of his pants during a show and releasing one of the most unhinged music videos we’ve ever seen for the track “Bouncy Castle.”
The Google graph also shows there was a spike in Tommy Lee Google searches during the beginning of the year, likely because the Hulu series Pam & Tommy came out in February. A lot of people dressed as the couple for Halloween — including Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox — as a result.
Needless to say, a lot happened in the world of Tommy Lee this year, so we’re not really surprised that he was such a popular search. He ranked No. 6 on the list of the Top 10 trending musicians and bands searches, which Maroon 5’s Adam Levine actually topped. Foo Fighters also made the list, landing at No. 10, likely due to the tragic death of Taylor Hawkins and the massive tribute concerts that were held in his honor.
It’ll be interesting to see what trends in the rock and metal world in 2023.