The ongoing feud between Mick Mars and his former-Motley Crue bandmates doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Mars, who claimed he was forced out of the band rather than simply retiring, told Rolling Stone, "When they wanted to get high and f*** everything up (in the '80s), I covered for them. Now they’re trying to take my legacy away, my part of Motley Crue, my ownership of the name, the brand."
Mars, who was said to be stepping away from live performances due to the degenerative disease Ankylosing Spondylitis, asked rhetorically: "How can you fire Mr. Heinz from Heinz ketchup? He owns it. Frank Sinatra's or Jimi Hendrix's legacy goes on forever, and their heirs continue to profit from it. They’re trying to take that away from me. I’m not going to let them."
Back in April, Mars filed suit against his bandmates alleging "the band wanted to cut Mars' share in profits from their earnings from 25 percent to 5 percent — something they denied."
Co-founding bassist Nikki Sixx countered Mars' allegations by explaining the guitarist is unfit to contribute to the band: "We were there watching him physically fall apart, mentally fall apart, his memory fell apart. We really were, with kid gloves, always trying to support Mick. We’ve always stood by his side. But we couldn’t let his side of the stage just be a train wreck. And now he’s only saying these things because he’s trying to hurt us. What’s the point? He’s destroying his own legacy. Dude, we love the f***in' guy. It’s really scary, (him) being in this complete hallucination."
Motley Crue, featuring guitarist John 5, performs tonight (June 27th) with Def Leppard in Thun, Switzerland at Stockhorn Arena.