Mick Mars has given his first interview since news broke of the legal battle between him and Mötley Crüe.
Speaking with Variety, the guitarist declares that his estranged bandmates — Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil — have been “hammering on me since ’87, trying to replace me.”
“I carried these bastards for years,” he says.
As previously reported, Mars filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe on Thursday, alleging that the band reduced his share of profits from 25% to 5% after he announced that he was retiring from touring last October due to his ongoing battle with the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis, or AS. He also accuses Sixx, Lee and Neil of playing to prerecorded tracks during last summer’s Stadium Tour, claiming specifically that Sixx “did not play a single note on bass” during the run.
Mars contends that his retirement from touring did not mean he was leaving the band altogether, something Mötley’s lawyers disagree with in their response to the suit. The Crüe’s team adds that Mars “struggled to remember chords, played the wrong songs and made constant mistakes,” which the guitarist describes as gaslighting.
“I promise that I can go to any place and play any of those songs right now, and I haven’t played them since October,” Mars says.
Mars also contends that any mistakes he did make on the Stadium Tour were only because he was trying to play live alongside the backing tracks.
Beyond that, Mars maintains he is rightfully owed for his contributions to Mötley Crüe, whether or not he’s on tour with them.
“This thing that I helped build for 41 years, I’m sorry, you’re not gonna take that from me,” he says. “I worked very hard for that. It’s mine. I’m keeping it. You can’t have it. Sorry.”
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