In an interview with Planet Rock , Nikki Sixx Mötley Crüe 's current legal situation with Mick Mars and the decision to bring in John 5 to replace the guitarist.
When Mars announced his retirement , he stated that he would remain a member of the band. However, earlier this month, the musician filed a lawsuit , alleging that the other members of Mötley Crüe held an emergency shareholders' meeting to expel him from the group and deny him his shares in the corporation that manages the group's business interests, reducing his profit stake from 25% to 5%.
Regarding the matter, Sixx commented: “If a band member says they can’t tour for health reasons, you have two options. You can leave the band [after] 42 years of work. Or we can look at each other and say, ‘Are we done?!’ We’re really at our peak and we understand [Mick’s] health issues” (via RockBizz ).
And he concluded: “We wish him all the best and we know he’s a little confused and being misled by his representatives right now. But we still have to focus on why we’re here.”
When discussing the decision to have John 5 replace Mick Mars, the musician commented: “I’ve been friends with John forever […] My wife said that when Mick told us he was leaving the band, and I told her I’d spoken to Tommy [ Lee ] and Vince [ Neil ], and everyone thought John would fit in, and I hadn’t called John yet because I had to make sure we were doing everything right. My wife said, ‘Well, you’re going to go on stage and talk to John on the phone’”.
“It’s a good time [for Mötley Crüe] and it kind of inspired us to write a little bit,” he added. “We love our history, we’re very proud of everything we’ve done. We’ve always been very supportive of Mick, no matter what he was going through. We’re very happy with where we are right now.”