Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx has finally broken his public silence on the bitter legal battle with former guitarist Mick Mars, offering an emotional and forceful rebuttal to his former bandmate’s damaging allegations. In a new, in-depth interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sixx framed the guitarist’s claim that the band performs to backing tracks as a “crazy betrayal” from a man whose life, he says, the band saved.
The public feud erupted in April 2023, six months after Mars announced his retirement from touring due to a degenerative disease. The guitarist filed an explosive lawsuit claiming the band was attempting to remove him from his financial stake in the group. The most damaging allegation in the suit was that Mars was the only member who played his instrument 100 percent live on their 2022 stadium tour, specifically claiming that Sixx “did not play a single note on bass.”
In his new interview, Sixx directly confronted this accusation, which strikes at the heart of the band’s integrity. “Saying he played in a band that didn’t play, it’s a betrayal to the band who saved his life,” Sixx declared.
He did not deny the use of some enhancements to their live show, but clarified their nature. “Anything we enhance the shows with, we actually played,” he explained. “If there are background vocals with my background vocals, and we have background singers to make it sound more like the record. That does not mean we’re not singing.”
The band’s attorney, Sasha Frid, further supported this, stating, “The fact of the matter is that Mötley always plays live. Even Mars‘s expert witness… reviewed hours of footage, agreed and said that the band played live while performing. He disputed Mars‘s own claims.”
This new, direct response from Sixx echoes the fiery defense mounted by the band’s manager, Allen Kovac, when the lawsuit was first filed. At the time, Kovac told Variety that Mars was engaging in a “smear campaign” and that his representatives were committing “elder abuse.” Kovac also made a stunning counter-allegation, claiming that it was Mars whose performance was suffering on tour. He alleged that the guitarist would often play the “wrong songs and the wrong parts, even with the guide tracks,” forcing the sound engineer to compensate in the live mix.
