Metal Sludge — This just might be the biggest rock n’ roll story in quite sometime, and it involves Mötley Crüe.
In short, former (semi retired) guitarist Mick Mars has sued the band he helped co-found and performed with for over 40 years.
TMZ broke the story earlier today and the news is shocking for sure.
Below is what TMZ has shared with their readers.
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Mötley Crüe co-founder Mick Mars IS going away mad … as they’re in the middle of a farewell tour, without Mick, he’s suing his ex-band — claiming they kicked him out and ripped him off, financially.
The band’s lead guitarist announced last fall he wouldn’t be joining the Crüe on the road, because he’s suffering from a debilitating arthritic disease called ankylosing spondylitis — but in his lawsuit he says he made it clear he could still record with the band or do limited performances … he just couldn’t handle a full tour with his condition.
According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Mick says the band cut his percentage of profits from 25 percent to 5 percent … after he announced he was stepping back from touring. Furthermore, he claims the band’s lawyers made him feel like he should be grateful for even that small cut, because they didn’t feel they owed him anything at all.
Mick claims there was a full band meeting and they decided to “unilaterally” remove him from Mötley Crüe.
Some of this is definitely personal for Mick. In the suit — filed by his attorney Ed McPherson — Mick repeatedly accused bassist Nikki Sixx of “gaslighting” him about his guitar skills diminishing.
Mick says that’s rich coming from Nikki, because he claims Nikki didn’t “play a single note on bass” during a recent tour — and instead, Nikki’s parts were pre-recorded.
Mick is suing Mötley Crüe to hand over all the financial books, so he can see if he’s getting screwed out of what he feels he deserves.
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Our Metal Sludge readers might recall that last fall former vocalist John Corabi cast doubt on the publicly shared press release from Mötley Crüe when they announced Mick Mars was retiring from touring.
Corabi told In Life In The Stocks podcast back in November 2022 the following about news that Mars had left the group: “I don’t totally believe Mick’s reasons for leaving Motley. And I don’t even know if he left Motley. I believe maybe he was shown the door.”
Our readers will also recall that Metal Sludge broke the news first on October 7th 2022 in our article Mötley Five that John 5 would become the new guitarist in Mötley Crüe.
Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both new and classic interviews.
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