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(Image credit: Ross Marino/Getty Images)
Last month, Mick Mars sat down for an in-depth interview with Rolling Stone, which saw the former – and co-founding – Mötley Crüe guitarist open up on the ugly legal battle that he and his old bandmates are currently engaged in.
The conversation touched on the topic of legacy, and, specifically, had Mars arguing that the group were trying to take his away: “I’m not going to let them,” he said at the time.
Now, Rolling Stone has published 15 outtakes from that interview, which explore the soured relationships between the two parties even further, with Mars apparently going as far as to say he never wants to speak to the band 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.”
According to Mars, a breakdown in communication had already happened: the guitarist claimed that no one spoke to him in 2022 while Mötley Crüe were on the road as part of an extensive stadium tour.
“Nobody spoke to me in 2022. A lot of the time felt like I was just playing by myself,” Mars reflected. “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.”
(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images/Live Nation)
Even before the 2022 tour, though, the relationship between Mars and his bandmates was faltering, with the guitarist claiming the last time the band really talked was at the premiere of The Dirt – the Netflix adaptation of their group memoir – in 2019.
Elsewhere in the outtakes, Mars doubled down on his assertion that the current legal battles aren’t about money, but his memory as a member of Mötley Crüe.
“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.
“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 well as the question of “ownership,” part of the divide between Mars and the rest of the Crüe crew stems from the former’s allegations that Nikki Sixx didn’t play bass live while on tour.
Here, he elaborated on the point, claiming tracks were used because Sixx “felt too much competition from the other bands on the tour, like Def Leppard.”
He said: “I think they made him feel inadequate about his bass playing.” Sixx strongly denies these allegations and is supported by seven members of the crew, who produced sworn declarations in his favor.
Mars retired from touring last year due to his struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.). Shortly after John 5 was announced as his replacement, Mars sued the band alleging they conspired to fire him, and had cut him out of future profits from all of their corporate entities.
The band responded to the lawsuit by asserting “retiring from touring is resigning from the band.”
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Matt is a Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
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