It was 28 years ago today that Motley Crue lost Nikki Sixx.. for about two minutes.

The now infamous experience for both Motley Crue and Nikki Sixx has been recounted in Sixx’s book, “The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star,” but remains one of the most fascinating miracles in Rock and Roll.

After a night of partying on December 23, 1987, Sixx had injected one last time with heroin and passed out. Shortly after, Sixx began to turn blue and could not be woken. As the paramedics arrived, Sixx was given adrenaline and loaded into an ambulance.

Within minutes, news of Sixx’s overdose was leaked to band members as well as the media as Sixx was declared dead on arrival. As Vince Neil recalled, hearing the news of Sixx’s death was devastating. “Maybe deep down I knew it was going to happen one day, but it still tore me to pieces because I loved Nikki — even though he was an arrogant selfish s–. I cried. And I never used to cry then.”

Sixx miraculously came to in the hospital, and true to form, eagerly walked out.

“There was a cop asking me questions, so I told him to go f– himself. I ripped out my tubes and staggered in just my leather pants into the parking lot, where two teenage girls were sitting crying around a candle. They had heard on the radio that I was dead and looked kind of surprised to see me.”

Luckily for fans of Motley Crue, Nikki Sixx’s ‘death’ is now a story that is a part of the band’s history, not a reality.