Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars is finished rockin’ with the legendary band on tour.
“Mick Mars, co-founder and lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe for the past 41 years, has announced today that because of his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.), he’ll now not have the opportunity to tour with the band,” a rep for the 71-year-old musician told Variety on Wednesday about Mars’ degenerative disease.
“Mick will proceed as a member of the band, but can now not handle the pains of the road. A.S. is a particularly painful and crippling degenerative disease, which affects the spine,” the statement continued.
Ankylosing spondylitis is a variety of arthritis that causes inflammation within the spine joints and ligaments and might result in stiffness over time, in accordance with the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
The band announced Thursday that guitarist John 5, who toured with Marilyn Manson, will replace Mars on the road.
“I’m honored to hold on Mick’s legacy and am looking forward to playing these songs,” he wrote within the group’s statement.
Mötley Crüe members Vince Neil, 61; Tommy Lee, 60; and Nikki Sixx, 63, will embark on a tour in 2023 alongside Def Leppard across Latin America and Europe.
The group assured fans that Mars will “proceed as a member of the band,” regardless that he’s not touring. The crew hasn’t released latest music since 2008.
Mars previously revealed his experiences with the disease, including within the band’s 2001 biography, “The Dirt.”
“My hips began hurting so bad each time I turned my body that it felt like someone was igniting fireworks in my bones. I didn’t manage to pay for to see a health care provider, so I just kept hoping that I could do what I often do: will it away, through the facility of my mind. But it surely kept getting worse.”
“Then, one afternoon while doing my laundry,” he continued, “I began having trouble respiratory. At first, it felt like someone had plunged a knife into my back. But because the weeks passed, the pain kept moving around my back. Next, my stomach began burning, and I nervous that my whole body was about to disintegrate. I assumed that there was a hole in my stomach, and acids were leaking out and destroying my bones and organs. I’d grab hold of doorknobs, anchor my legs into the bottom, and pull with my hands to stretch my back and ease the pressure out.”
Mars’ condition worsened by the turn of the century, and he became hooked on painkillers. But a successful hip surgery helped him play years of shows on the road.
“I kept getting worse and worse, and I just stopped playing guitar for nearly two years,” he told Metal Sludge in 2008. “Nowadays, it’s not so bad, but back then once I was high on all that stuff and Motley were having a break, I knew if I didn’t stop I used to be gonna die.”
“Ultimately, I needed to go to a neuropsychiatrist to straighten me up and he said to me, ‘Just hold the guitar for an hour a day – don’t play it, just hold it.’ It was pretty bizarre but I got through it, and ultimately, I believe I’m actually a greater player due to it,” Mars added.
The Post has reached out to reps for Mötley Crüe for further comment.
