Mick Mars made headlines in October 2022 when he retired from touring. According to Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, Mars’s decision to stop touring really came down to the pain he was in.
Allen recently appeared on the Appetite For Distortion podcast and said (h/t Blabbermouth), “It was Mick’s decision to really move on and just get to the next part of his life. And we all know that Mick has suffered terribly, terribly with pain; you see it on his face all the time.”
Mars has been dealing with the spinal disorder Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.) for decades. According to the Mayo Clinic, A.S. causes the vertebrae in the spine to fuse over time. This deters flexibility and can cause a “hunched posture.” The disease has no cure.
RELATED: Motley Crue, Def Leppard Announce Co-Headlining World Tour
Allen added, “I think the only time I ever saw him truly in his element [was] when he was up on stage playing with the band. It was more his decision. That must have been a super hard decision. I mean, it would have been different if the guy was being thrown out of the band, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was a personal choice that he made. And you can’t say that that’s wrong. It was right for him at the time.”
These comments certainly seem to acknowledge the speculation held by former Crue singer John Corabi. He said in November 2022, “I don’t totally believe Mick’s reasons for leaving Motley. And I don’t even know if he left Motley. I believe maybe he was shown the door.”
Corabi added, “Because as long as I can remember… F—, when we were doing the ‘Generation Swine’ record, they were complaining about his guitar playing then. And if you really look at all of the records they’ve done since then… The majority of the guitars on the ‘Swine’ record, which is one of the reasons why I sued the guys, are mine. They were complaining about Mick the whole f-cking time. And I don’t know if he played on ‘New Tattoo’ — I’m not sure — but I know on ‘Red, White & Crüe’, it was D.J. Ashba; on ‘Saints Of Los Angeles’, it was D.J. Ashba; and on ‘The Dirt’ [soundtrack], it was John 5.”
Shortly after the announcement of Mars’s retirement from touring, John 5 was named Motley Crue’s touring guitarist. Meanwhile, the band said Mars is still a member of the Crue.
