Mick Mars left Mötley Crüe — on allegedly amicable, but seemingly complicated terms — back in October of 2022, and since then, he's accused his bandmates of not speaking to him, sued them, announced that he approves of his replacement, and released some solo music.
Now, the muddy waters become even less clear with Nikki Sixx sharing that the band were "forced" to oust Mars. In an interview with Guitar World, Sixx said that the band felt like they'd reached an impasse and felt forced by the circumstance of the progression of Mars's Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a rare form of degenerative arthritis the guitarist was diagnosed with when he was 27.
"Listen, we were forced," the bassist explained. "Guy's gotta choose: you want to break up? Do you want to fuck over [concert promoter] Live Nation? You want to screw [tourmates] Def Leppard? All those tickets, all that planning that we'd done because one of your band members is too ill to perform live?"
He continued, "We really had to think about it. 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 fucking mow the lawn? It's like your fucking football team; if one of your guys can't play anymore, they bring in another guy."
Without Mars, the band apparently have a new album on the way.