Band refutes Mars claims

Mötley Crüe has responded to the lawsuit co-founding guitarist Mick Mars filed in a Los Angeles court on Thursday (Apr 6th) over accessing the band’s financial records. Mars says his 25 percent ownership in the band was diminished to five percent after retiring from the road in late 2022, and is seeking to review the financial records to see what else he may be owed. The band’s litigation attorney, Sasha Frid, calls the suit baseless stating Mars resigned from the group and was compensated fairly for his 41 years with the band.

“Mick’s lawsuit is unfortunate and completely off-base. In 2008, Mick voted for and signed an agreement in which he and every other band member agreed that ‘in no event shall any resigning shareholder be entitled to receive any monies attributable to live performances (i.e., tours),'” Frid tells Variety. “After the last tour, Mick publicly resigned from Mötley Crüe. Despite the fact that the band did not owe Mick anything — and with Mick owing the band millions in advances that he did not pay back — the band offered Mick a generous compensation package to honor his career with the band. Manipulated by his manager and lawyer, Mick refused and chose to file this ugly public lawsuit.”

Mars’ lawsuit — a response to the band taking him to arbitration — claims he was the only member to perform 100% live during The Stadium Tour’s 36 shows in 2022. Mars also accuses bassist Nikki Sixx of “gaslighting” him about his guitar skills diminishing, and claims he played each show live from start to finish, while Sixx pre-recorded all of his bass parts for The Stadium Tour and didn’t “play a single note” on stage. Mars also claims most of Vince Neil’s vocals and some of Tommy Lee’s drum parts were also pre-recorded.

“Equally unfortunate are his claims about the band’s live performances,” Frid replies. “Mötley Crüe always performs its songs live, but during the last tour, Mick struggled to remember chords, played the wrong songs and made constant mistakes which led to his departure from the band. There are multiple declarations from the band’s crew attesting to his decline. The band did everything to protect him (and) tried to keep these matters private to honor Mick’s legacy and take the high road. Unfortunately, Mick chose to file this lawsuit to badmouth the band. 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 also provided the publication with signed declarations from seven members of the touring crew who all allege that Mars’ performances were sub par and created issues with group. Complaints include Mars consistently forgetting chords and songs where “the band would have to stop and re-teach those parts to Mick to remind him of the arrangements… He would consistently miss notes; play out of tune; play the wrong chords during a song; stay within a chours of a song and never come out of it; forget the song that he was playing and start a different one; and would get lost in songs.” They also claim Mars would miss cues the playback engineer set for him.

In his suit, Mars claims he missed his cues due to issues with the sound mix sent to his in-ear monitors.

Frid also clears the air about the contrasting statements Mars and the band made when Mars announced his retirement from the road in October.

“Retiring from touring is resigning from the band,” Frid states. “The band’s primary function is to tour and perform concerts. And as you saw from the amendment, if a shareholder resigns, he cannot receive any compensation from touring — which is what Mick is trying to get. It’s clear-cut that Mick is not entitled to any more money.”

The band’s attorney confirms Mars will continue to receive royalties from publishing and sound recordings, but is not a shareholder for future business. No arbitration date has been set.

Last year, more than 1.3 million tickets sold for The Stadium Tour which also featured Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard continue the trek with The World Tour hitting the US, Europe and beyond.