BREAKING: Nikki Sixx Says Motley Crue ‘Were Forced’ Into Firing Mick Mars Due to…

Nikki Sixx has offered further exposition into Motley Crue’s decision to split with founding guitarist Mick Mars.

It was October 2022 when the band announced Mars was exiting the Crue. At the time, the decision was presented as amicable — Mars would be involved behind the scenes, but no longer tour due to his ongoing battle with ankylosing spondylitis. However, shortly after John 5 was announced as his replacement, Mars took legal action, claiming that he was forced out of the band.

According to Sixx, it wasn’t an individual who pushed for Mars’ dismissal, but rather the circumstances that pressured Motley Crue into making the change.

“Listen, we were forced,” the bassist explained during a recent conversation with Guitar World. “Guy’s gotta choose: you want to break up? Do you want to fuck over [concert promoter] Live Nation? You want to screw [tourmates] Def Leppard? All those tickets, all that planning that we’d done because one of your band members is too ill to perform live?”

Though the decision wasn’t an easy one, Sixx insists his band made the right call.

“We really had to think about it,” the rocker continued. “Like, do you think we wanted to take the grief we took, and end up in a lawsuit? But what were we supposed to do? Go home and fucking mow the lawn? It’s like your fucking football team; if one of your guys can’t play anymore, they bring in another guy.”

Motley Crue Has Been Busy Since John 5’s Arrival

Motley Crue has remained active since switching guitarists, embarking on a world tour and performing at many of rock’s top festivals. The band also released an EP titled Cancelled, their first material with John 5 in the lineup, earlier this month.

“We’re still here, and we are still creative,” Sixx declared to Guitar World. “We’re able to tour – and not tour to the point in the old days where you break the spirit of the human beings. We get to go out, play some badass shows, reinvent the band here or there, and really enjoy this time.”

Motley Crue Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide

The complete story of Motley Crue’s lineup changes.

Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening

UE TO

Mark Weiss, Motley Crue

1981-1992: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil

Motley Crue played their first show on April 24, 1981, opening for Y&T at Hollywood’s Starwood Hotel. Thanks in part to high-profile gigs such as Ozzy Osbourne’s opening act and at the US Festival, the often controversial group quickly rose to the top of the hard-rock landscape. Their sophomore album, ‘Shout at the Devil,’ cracked the Top 20 in 1983, and three more multi-platinum efforts followed before the close of the decade. In the fall of 1991, they signed a lucrative new record contract reportedly worth as much as $35 million. But personality conflicts and a difference of opinion about the band’s musical direction led to singer Vince Neil’s ouster in February 1992.

Elektra

1992-1996: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, John Corabi

A year after Neil made a respectable start to his solo career with the Steve Stevens-powered ‘Exposed’ album, Motley Crue emerged with new singer John Corabi and a heavier, more serious sound. The new lineup’s self-titled 1994 LP didn’t connect well with most of the band’s earlier audience, though it has since obtained a cult-favorite status among fans. The accompanying tour was poorly attended, and partway through the creation of a follow-up record, Corabi – frustrated by what he deemed a dizzying series of changing creative directions – parted ways with the band.

Albert Ortega, Getty Images

1996-1999: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil

With Motley Crue’s commercial fortunes in free fall, and Neil’s sophomore album ‘Carved in Stone’ failing to crack the Top 100, the original foursome decided to reunite and complete the already in-progress ‘Generation Swine’ record. In retrospect, they probably would have been better starting fresh, as the final result was a muddled mess of material that was ill-suited to his vocal style. The following Motley Crue vs. the Earth tour was better received, and everything seemed to be back on track.

Motley Records

1999-2002: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, Randy Castillo

Turns out the original lineup’s second stint didn’t last very long. Lee had grown eager to explore other forms of music. “I always told myself that when my heart wasn’t in it, it was time to quit,” he explained in the band’s official autobiography ‘The Dirt.’ “And my heart wasn’t in it.” When he left to form the band Methods of Mayhem, Motley Crue replaced him with former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they recorded 2000’s back-to-basics ‘New Tattoo.’ A cancer diagnosis soon forced Castillo off the tour in support of the album and claimed his life in March 2002.

ullstein bild, Getty Images

2000-2002: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, Samantha Maloney

With Castillo sidelined for health reasons, Motley Crue enlisted former Hole drummer Samantha Maloney to play drums on the band’s ‘New Tattoo’ tour. “The entire band was very supportive and respectful of me. I had the time of my life!,” she told NRK. “Some of the fans at first were hesitant, but I won each and every fan over every night after song one.” Maloney can be seen and heard on 2001’s ‘Lewd, Crued & Tattooed’ concert video, and would go on to work with Eagles of Death Metal and Peaches.

Paul Brown, Motley Crue

2004-2015: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil

After a two-year hiatus, Motley Crue’s original lineup reunited for the second time in 2004. “The only thing people ask us about is if we’re getting along. Of course, we get along,” Lee told The Guardian, addressing the band’s previous public squabbles. “Time heals – it’s been six years. People change, grow up. I think we all have the attitude now that if we could just fucking get along instead of fucking with each other, we could continue to do this for as long as anybody wants to.” Over the next decade, they released one more studio album (2008’s ‘Saints of Los Angeles’), headlined two editions of the Crue Fest festival and shared co-headlining bills with Aerosmith and Kiss before embarking on a farewell tour that concluded on New Year’s Eve 2015.

Greetsia Tent, Getty Images

June 2007: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Will Hunt

When an am injury forced Lee to miss two U.K. show on Motley Crue’s 2007 summer tour, he reached out to Evanescence drummer and Crue fan Will Hunt. “I just happened to be in London for four days on a break,” Hunt told MusicRadar in 2010. “Tommy called me and said, ‘I need you to play tonight!'” Lee rallied enough to play “Kickstart My Heart” at one of the shows.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

August 2009: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Morgan Rose

Two years later, another injury – this time the result of playing with sparklers – put Lee out of action for a pair of shows on the Crue Fest 2 tour. Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose was there to fill in. Eager to earn his keep, Lee hung around onstage to add backing vocals and play piano on “Home Sweet Home.”

Daniel Knighton, Getty Images

October 2015: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Glen Sobel

A tendinitis flareup knocked Lee off the drum stool for a handful of shows on the band’s farewell tour. Alice Cooper was opening the entire tour, and his powerhouse drummer Glen Sobel was there to fill in, with Lee performing his by now customary “Home Sweet Home” duties.

Kevin Mazur, Getty Images

June 2022: Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Tommy Clufetos

No sooner did Motley Crue kick off their highly anticipated, twice-delayed Stadium Tour than Tommy Lee gave the crowd some tragic news: He had broken four ribs and would be unable to play the shows in their entirety. Instead, he split his drum duties on the trek’s first six shows with veteran fill-in drummer Tommy Clufetos, who’s worked with Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and more. “My fucking heart is broken, along with the ribs,” Lee told the audience on the first night of the tour. “So I’m gonna fucking pop in and out as much as I can.” By the seventh date of the Stadium Tour, Lee was back playing full Crue sets.

Emma McIntyre / Larry Busacca, Getty Images

October 2022-Present: Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, John 5

Motley Crue revealed another major lineup change in October 2022: Mick Mars, the band’s stalwart guitarist since 1981, announced his retirement from touring, ceding his position to longtime Rob Zombie guitarist John 5. Mars fought hard every time he took the stage: He battled health issues throughout his career, most notably ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic, inflammatory form of arthritis that gradually impaired his movement. 5’s classic rock bona fides are impressive: He’s worked with David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, Alice Cooper, Sebastian Bach and more, and in 2021 he debuted the L.A. Rats supergroup featuring Nikki Sixx, Tommy Clufetos and Zombie.

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