Mick Mars Suing Mötley Crüe Bandmates

Mötley Crüe co-founder and guitarist Mick Mars is suing his bandmates over profits in the wake of his October 2022 announcement that he was retiring from the road due to a decades-long battle with the degenerative spine disease Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.). At the time, Mars, 71, was said to still be a member of Mötley Crüe offstage.

But the musician allegedly claims his share in Mötley Crüe’s income was slashed from 25% to 5% after a band meeting in which he was “unilaterally” removed from the veteran rock quartet and asked to divest himself of shares in other Mötley-related businesses . His suit seeks access to Mötley’s financial records to ensure he’s receiving all monies to which he’s entitled.

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In the suit, Mars threw in a few barbs for good measure, including that bassist Nikki Sixx is miming to pre-recorded tracks during its current concerts. This claim has recently been repeated by drummer Carmine Appice, who told Ultimate Guitar last month, “the truth is that everything has been weird for a while with Mötley Crüe, 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.”

Sixx responded on Twitter, “A washed up drummer speaking for our band without any of the facts is as ridiculous as bottom feeder media running with stories without fact checking. When you hear the truth it will be from us.”

Mars was replaced in Mötley Crüe by guitarist John 5. Despite an extensive farewell tour and what was said to be its final show on Dec. 31, 2015, the band reunited in 2019. Its massive 2022 summer stadium tour with Def Leppard brought in big bucks at the box office, so much so that it was reactivated for international dates this year. A European leg of the run gets underway in May 22 in Sheffield, U.K.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

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