MÖTLEY CRÜE’s NIKKI SIXX: ‘We Were Forced’ To Continue Without MICK MARS

Nikki Sixx Mick Mars

In a new interview with Guitar World magazine, MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s Nikki Sixx talked about the band’s choice to bring in guitarist John 5 to replace Mick Mars, after Mars decided to step back from touring with the band.

“Listen, we were forced,” Nikki said. “Guy’s gotta choose: you want to break up? Do you want to f**k over Live Nation? You want to screw [tourmates] DEF LEPPARD? All those tickets, all that planning that we’d done because one of your bandmembers is too ill to perform live?”

“We really had to think about it, bro,” Sixx continued. “Like, do you think we wanted to take the grief we took, and end up in a lawsuit? But what were we supposed to do? Go home and f**king mow the lawn? It’s like your f**king football team; if one of your guys can’t play anymore, they bring in another guy.”

Earlier this month, Sixx defended MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s choice to move forward with John 5 after their split from Mars, reiterating claims that Mars had been experiencing “memory issues” before his retirement.

“It was becoming harder and harder and harder to get anything done with Mick because of his memory problems and just his physical ailments,” Nikki told Classic Rock. “And we have a lot of empathy for that.

John 5 stepped in as Mars‘s replacement in fall of 2022. Mick officially retired from touring with the band in October 2022 due to deteriorating health conditions.

“When Mick left the band, we had to make a choice. And we made the right choice with John. We wish Mick nothing but the best.”

Expanding on the decision to bring in John 5Sixx remarked: “I run this band with an iron fist and nobody can get in and f**k with our band, legally, marketing-wise”, adding that MÖTLEY CRÜE had to make “a self-sufficient decision” on the way forward without Mars, which was, according to Sixx, “the right thing to do.” He added: “But doing the right thing isn’t always f**king fun, [with] fans believing we did something we didn’t do.”

In April 2023, Mars initiated legal action against his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates, alleging that he was unjustly terminated by his “brothers of 41 years.”

In his lawsuit, Mars asserted that the other CRÜE members sought to unlawfully strip him of his 25% ownership stake in the band after he disclosed his inability to tour due to an arthritic condition known as ankylosing spondylitis, which he described as a “tragic announcement.” Mars also claimed that Nikki Sixx “did not play a single note on bass” during the entire 2022 tour, that “100% of Sixx‘s bass parts were nothing but recordings” and asserted that a “significant portion” of Neil‘s vocals and “some of” Tommy Lee‘s drumming were pre-recorded.