Recently, video footage has come to light displaying Mötley Crüe using pre-recorded tracks during their live shows, leading to fan disappointment and doubt over the veracity of the band’s concerts.
At the start of this month, Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars filed a lawsuit against the band, alleging the extensive utilization of backing tracks during shows and accusing bassist Nikki Sixx of making him think his guitar capacities and cognitive abilities were deteriorating.
Mick asserts his portion of the earnings was reduced from 25% to a mere 5% following his declaration to cease touring.
The lawsuit states that the group’s lawyers made him feel as if he should be content with this small proportion, as they believed they had no need to offer him anything.
Moreover, a complete band meeting was held where they chose to exclude Mick from the band without any consent. Mick also asserted that Nikki Sixx‘s segments were all pre-recorded, and he did not “play a single note on bass” throughout the tour, as mentioned by the guitarist.
During a recent interview with Variety, Mars discussed his previous claims of band’s excessive use of backing tracks, saying:
“Yes, on this particular tour, Nikki‘s bass was 100% recorded. Tommy‘s [Lee] drums, to the best of my knowledge, there was a lot. I can’t say he did all of it recorded, but there were some reports from people in the audience that said, ‘Oh, I heard the drums playing, but there’s no Tommy on there. The song started, and there’s no drummer.’ Stuff like that. And actually everything that we did on that stadium tour was on tape, because if we didn’t, if we missed a part, the tape would keep rolling and you’d miss it.
“Anyway, that was the worst 36 gigs ever had with the band,” he added. “It was 36 [instead of the originally scheduled 12] because they knew I wanted to retire from it after that. [Mars says in the suit he did not want to do the extra two dozen dates that got added but went along with it.] I don’t know, and I can’t say I positively know, but I have a pretty good feeling that they wanted me gone anyway. Because they’ve been wanting that since forever. It’s just frustrating for me. I’m pretty upset that they’re even pulling this crap, when I carried these b*stards for years.”
Regarding his anticipations moving forward, having initiated this legal action, Mick said: “I think that those guys are hoping that I’ll just fold and lay down. Because I’ve done that many times. But this thing that I helped build for 41 years, I’m sorry, you’re not gonna take that from me. I worked very hard for that. It’s mine. I’m keeping it. You can’t have it. Sorry. But they’re well prepared, I can already tell you, because I’ve known them that long too. But I’m not backing down. I’m not gonna fold. And we’ll see what happens. I’m most definitely not afraid of them, or intimidated or anything else.”