In a current interview with Classic Rock journal, Mötley Crüe‘s bassist Nikki Sixx opened up in regards to the resolution to herald guitarist John 5 as Mick Mars‘s substitute, following Mars‘s departure from touring. Mars, who has battled Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a persistent situation that primarily impacts the backbone and pelvis, knowledgeable the band in 2022 that he might now not tour. Regardless of his retirement from the highway, Mars expressed his willingness to proceed recording or acting at much less bodily demanding occasions, resembling residencies.
In line with Sixx: “It was turning into more durable and more durable and more durable to get something carried out with Mick due to his reminiscence issues and simply his bodily illnesses. And we now have numerous empathy for that.”
The band confronted a tricky resolution, and Sixx stands by their option to proceed with John 5. “When Mick left the band, we had to select. And we made the suitable alternative with John. We want Mick nothing however the very best,” Sixx emphasised, reflecting on the challenges of shifting ahead with out the long-lasting guitarist.
Sixx echoed these claims once more in one other interview with Guitar World, saying that Mötley Crüe was pressured to fireside Mars. “Pay attention, we have been pressured. Man’s gotta select: you need to break up? Do you need to fuck over [tour promoter] Dwell Nation? You need to screw [tourmates] Def Leppard? All these tickets, all that planning that we would carried out as a result of one in every of your bandmembers is just too unwell to carry out reside?”
He continued: “We actually had to consider it, bro. Like, do you assume we wished to take the grief we took, and find yourself in a lawsuit? However what have been we imagined to do? Go dwelling and fucking mow the garden? It is like your fucking soccer crew; if one in every of your guys cannot play anymore, they bring about in one other man.”
Followers weren’t all on board with the change, and Sixx addressed the criticism: “I run this band with an iron fist and no one can get in and fuck with our band, legally, marketing-wise.” He elaborated that the band needed to make “a self-sufficient resolution” to hold on with out Mars, regardless that it was “the suitable factor to do.” Sixx added, “However doing the suitable factor is not all the time fucking enjoyable,” noting that some followers have misunderstood their actions.
In April 2023, Mars took authorized motion in opposition to Mötley Crüe, accusing the band of attempting to cut back his stake of their enterprise – principally eradicating him as a big stakeholder within the group’s company and enterprise holdings through a shareholders’ assembly – after his announcement. He alleged that when he refused to signal papers that might lower his touring royalties to only 5%, the band pursued arbitration, aiming to keep away from public scrutiny of their remedy of their “brother” of 41 years.
In January, Mars secured a significant victory when a decide dominated that Mötley Crüe had withheld key monetary and enterprise info from him, which had implications on his involvement and earnings.
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