As the legal feud between Mötley Crüe and Mick Mars continues, the guitarist has opened up about the full extent of the disconnect between himself and his former bandmates.
Mars has been outspoken regarding his unceremonious exit from the band, blaming Nikki Sixx and company for forcing him out and cutting his profit share in the process. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mars said that his bandmates didn’t so much as speak to him throughout 2022 — including the entirety of the band’s stadium tour with Def Leppard — leading up to his retirement from touring back in October.
“Nobody spoke to me in 2022,” Mars said. “A lot of the time felt like I was just playing by myself. You know how you can be in a crowd of people and still feel alone? That’s how I felt that whole tour. I felt used, sad, and inferior. When we played the last show [in Las Vegas on September 9, 2022] I felt relieved. A lot of the pressure was gone. But I was very emotionally wounded. They weren’t just shallow wounds. They were deep ones; the kind you can’t get over.”
Mars went on to discuss his legal battle with Mötley Crüe, asserting that the lawsuit isn’t just monetarily motivated: It’s about preserving his legacy a core member of the band for decades.
“Just let me retire and have my legacy,” he said. “I don’t want to be a drama guy. I want to be a fuckin’ happy guy. But what do I get handed? Plates of shit. I don’t want it. I’m beat up on that shit. Let me have my legacy so that I can enjoy what I’ve done.”
He continued: “I own one quarter, or even half, I don’t know for sure, of Mötley Crüe Inc., which trickles down to all the other Mötley Crüe entities. I’m not asking for a right arm or left arm. But dammit man, I’ve never seen anybody have to go through this shit when they want to retire. I’m not an employee of Mötley Crüe though. I’m an owner.”
As Mars tells it, the bridges have been burned between himself and his longtime bandmates, to the point where he feels that they would all be “okay” if he never spoke with them again.
“I think all of us would be okay with that,” Mars said. “And I don’t just mean me with them. I mean them with each other. I don’t plan on having a funeral. If I did, I think maybe they’d show up for that just out of courtesy. But for me, there’s no funeral. There’s no nothing.”
Mötley Crüe have since replaced Mars with longtime Rob Zombie axeman John 5. The new lineup just played an intimate one-off club date in London, and will embark on a US jaunt with Def Leppard next month. You can get tickets to those shows here.