Mick Mars Sues Motley Crue: Mick Mars announced his retirement from touring only a couple of months ago, but now there’s some trouble brewing for Motley Crue. TMZ is reporting that Mars is suing Motley Crue, claiming he was “unilaterally” removed from the band despite assuring he could still record in the studio, and that his cut from their profits was significantly reduced.
He announced that he would be retiring from touring due to his condition, ankylosing spondylitis, but that he would still be a member of the band. Motley Crue then announced that John 5 would be a touring guitarist for the band. He’s played on all of their live shows so far in 2023.
Then, Nikki Sixx tweeted that he and John 5 had been “writing random riffs” together in the studio. There are no current plans for the band to release new music in the future.
Here’s what the lawsuit says according to TMZ.
According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Mick says the band cut his percentage of profits from 25 percent to 5 percent … after he announced he was stepping back from touring. Furthermore, he claims the band’s lawyers made him feel like he should be grateful for even that small cut, because they didn’t feel they owed him anything at all.
Mick claims there was a full band meeting and they decided to “unilaterally” remove him from Mötley Crüe.
Mick also claimed that Nikki was trying to gaslight him about his guitar skills diminishing over time. Mars claimed that Sixx didn’t “play a single note on bass” during a recent tour, saying that his parts were pre-recorded.
This follows up a public feud between Carmine Appice and Nikki Sixx surrounding Mick Mars and his departure. Appice told Ultimate Guitar this.
“Basically, everything was on tape; it was all planned out and ultimately a lot of crap. And Mick is a pretty good player, and so, to now let him loose and play the way he wants, that was never going to work for him,” Appice said. “The truth is that everything has been weird for a while with Motley Crue, and Mick didn’t like that everything was on tape. Mick told me that people that came to see it could tell that it was all pre-recorded and that everything was on tape.”
This is a developing story, and we’ll keep you updated on it as it develops.
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Source: TMZ, Ultimate Guitar
