Mötley Crüe founding member Nikki Sixx is shedding some light on longtime guitarist Mick Mars' retirement from the group, saying it took a "deep, deep look" at their future as a band without him before making their final decision to continue on.
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Speaking about Mick Mars' decision to stop touring with the band at the end of 2022 due to his ongoing health issues, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx tells Guitar World the rest of the members actually “never saw it coming that Mick wasn’t going to be able to tour and was going to have to quit the band." Although Mars contends he was pushed out of the group after 41 years, the band insists he resigned from the group altogether when announcing he would no longer be a part of their touring entourage.
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Sixx adds, "We had to ask ourselves, ‘Do we want to let the fans down? Do we want to let Live Nation down? Do we want to let Def Leppard down? Do we want to let ourselves down because an original member of our band can’t tour anymore?’ We had to have a deep, deep look into what we were going to do.”
Former Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 has been added to the roster to replace Mars as the Crüe works on a brand new record and continues their global trek. Sixx says picking John was a “no-brainer in a horrible situation -- something we did not ask for or want." He adds, "it was just kind of obvious. If there was ‘the guy’, John was the guy. Like I said, we didn’t choose this, but since we had to be put in this position, we’re very happy with where we’re at right now... It’s literally like having your little brother right by your side. It’s such a nice feeling.”
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