Mötley Crüe’s longtime guitarist Mick Mars has accused his bandmates of not playing live on stage.
In a “verified petition for writ of mandate to compel inspection and copying of books, records and documents” Mars filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday, the 71-year-old musician alleged that Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Tommy Lee belittled him for years.
He alleged that Sixx told him he had “some sort of cognitive dysfunction, and that his guitar playing was sub-par.” According to the filing, Sixx claimed Mars forgot chords and would start playing the wrong songs.
“Astonishingly, Sixx made these claims about Mars’s playing while he (Sixx) did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour,” the documents read. “Ironically, 100% of Sixx’s bass parts were nothing but recordings. Sixx was seen fist pumping in the air with his strumming hand, while the bass part was playing.
“In fact, a significant portion of (Vince) Neil’s vocals were also pre-recorded. Even some of (Tommy) Lee’s drum parts were recordings. Some fans actually noticed that Lee was walking toward his drum set as they heard his drum part begin.”
Last October, Mars announced he will no longer tour with the band he co-founded more than 40 years ago, citing health issues.
Mars claimed in Thursday’s filing that Mötley Crüe demanded he sign a severance agreement that would divest him of his 25 percent share in the band’s business ventures in return for a five percent stake in the current tour. (They later offered 7.5 percent, he claimed.)
He alleged his bandmates attempted to “throw Mars out of the band, to fire him as a director of the corporation, to fire him as an officer of the corporation, and to take away his shares of the corporation.”
Mars said he can still play and is ready and able to continue in the band except for going on tour.
The court docs describe Mars as “a quiet member of the group, who shows up to play, and puts his heart and soul into each performance.”
A lawyer for Mötley Crüe told Variety that Mars’ claims are “unfortunate” and insisted “Mötley Crüe always performs its songs live.”
Sasha Frid added that during the band’s 2022 tour, Mars “struggled to remember chords, played the wrong songs and made constant mistakes which led to his departure from the band.
"The band did everything to protect him (and) tried to keep these matters private to honour Mick’s legacy and take the high road … The band feels empathy for Mick, wishes him well and hopes that he can get better guidance from his advisors who are driven by greed.”
Frid said “after the last tour, Mick publicly resigned from Mötley Crüe” and, despite allegedly owing millions in advances, was offered “a generous compensation package to honour his career with the band.”
According to Frid, “retiring from touring is resigning from the band. The band’s primary function is to tour and perform concerts.”