Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently conducted an interview with John Corabi, the frontman of THE DEAD DAISIES and former singer of MÖTLEY CRÜE. The interview took place on the streets of Montreal, Canada on July 3, 2023, just before Corabi‘s acoustic performance at The Piranha Bar.
John Corabi was asked about how he was depicted in the 2019 MÖTLEY CRÜE film, The Dirt, and whether or not his presence should have been featured.
“I think they could have just shown the band split up and then show them talking to get back together again [without including him],” he responded. “The only thing that bugs me about that movie is that they took the unfortunate liberty to make it look like I was playing in high school gymnasiums to like eight people. I’m fine, it is what it is. It doesn’t bother me at all anymore. I’m like whatever. I thought that was a little bit overblown their perception or their view of that time.
“I mean it’s kind of funny if you go on to YouTube and type in John Corabi MÖTLEY CRÜE Live 94. It’s like yeah, none of the shows were sold out but we still played to three, four, five, six thousand people, seven thousand people depending on the size of the Arena,” he added. “I just thought that was a little sh*tty and then the other thing is if they were going to put me in the movie which they did I’m just angry that they didn’t get Morgan Freeman to play me. You know he’s always wise in every movie, he’s just cool in every movie.”
Further in the interview, Corabi was asked about his thoughts on ongoing lawsuit between CRÜE and guitarist Mick Mars, to which he responded: “I said what I had to say in the very beginning when that first press release came out that Mick wasn’t going to tour due to his health and yada yada. Somebody asked me a question, I made the statements and now I’m keeping my mouth shut but none of the drama surprises me, do you know what I mean? That’s all I gotta say.”
Corabi previously discussed Mick Mars‘ lawsuit against CRÜE in an interview with Sofa King Cool Magazine. When asked if he was surprised about ongoing public disputes between the band’s founder and guitarist Mick Mars and his fellow band members, Corabi responded: “Nope. No. Not at all. I caught a lot of flak of this. And to be honest, I don’t really wanna get into Mick‘s business or MÖTLEY‘s business; it’s not my place. I don’t know why.
“I caught some flak for this when I was in Europe. I was over there in November and December doing some acoustic shows, and I did a book signing in London — it was like a Q&A book-singing thing — and a fan asked me about the press release that had just come out about Mick not touring with them on the rest of this tour. And all I said was, ‘That’s a statement that’s been prepared by MÖTLEY and their management. I haven’t heard anything from Mick. And until Mick speaks, I have nothing to say about this. But I’m not necessarily agreeing with what I’m hearing.’”
In the lawsuit, Mick alleges that MÖTLEY CRÜE reduced his share of earnings from 25 percent to a mere 5 percent after revealing his decision to withdraw from touring. Additionally, he states that the group’s attorneys made him feel as if he should appreciate this minimal portion, as they believed they had no obligation to provide him with anything. Mick also asserts that a complete band gathering took place where they chose to “unilaterally” exclude him from MÖTLEY CRÜE.
Mick consistently alleged that bassist Nikki Sixx was “gaslighting” him by suggesting his guitar abilities were declining, even though Sixx didn’t “play a single note on bass” throughout a recent tour, as stated by the guitarist. Mick asserts that all of Nikki‘s segments were pre-recorded.
