Mick Mars believes Def Leppard made Nikki Sixx 'feel inadequate' about his bass playing
He has claimed once again that the Mötley Crüe bassist mimed
Mick Mars has doubled down on his stance that Nikki Sixx didn’t perform bass on Mötley Crüe’s Stadium Tour in 2022.
After his retirement from touring was announced last autumn, in April Mick Mars launched legal proceedings against his Mötley Crüe band mates over financial issues.
Among the stinging claims in the lawsuit was that Nikki Sixx “continually gaslighted Mars by telling him that he (Mars) had some sort of cognitive dysfunction, and that his guitar playing was sub-par.”
This was apparently despite Mars’ belief that Sixx “did not play a single note on bass during the entire US tour.”
In a statement to Variety a few days later, Mötley Crüe denounced Mick Mars’ claims in his “ugly lawsuit” and they included signed declarations from seven crew members about Mick Mars’ playing.
Sixx later told Planet Rock that Mars was “a little bit confused and being misled by representatives” in regard to the lawsuit.
Now, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Mick Mars has once again stated his claim that Nikki Sixx mimed his bass parts on tour.
“I’ve been with him a long time, and I got fan-based film of him thrusting his arms in the air and stuff when there’s a bass line playing,” Mars said.
“I’m absolutely positive (he wasn’t playing live bass). I think he did that because he felt too much competition from the other bands on the tour, like Def Leppard. I think they made him feel inadequate about his bass playing.”
Astonishingly, Mick Mars went on to say that the last time he had a proper conversation with Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx was at the premiere of The Dirt movie in 2019.
“Nobody spoke to me in 2022,” Mars said. “A lot of the time felt like I was just playing by myself. You know how you can be in a crowd of people and still feel alone?
“That’s how I felt that whole tour. I felt used, sad, and inferior. When we played the last show (in Las Vegas on 9th September 2022) I felt relieved. A lot of the pressure was gone. But I was very emotionally wounded. They weren’t just shallow wounds. They were deep ones; the kind you can’t get over.”
Mötley Crüe complete the UK leg of their co-headline tour with Def Leppard on Wednesday (6th July) at Glasgow Green.
The real names of 100 rock stars, including Mick Mars:
Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks
Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović
'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'
Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker
John 5’s real name: John William Lowery
Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback
Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont
Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello
Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano
Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock
King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen
Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson
Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm
Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou
Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga
Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano
Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti
Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose
Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott
Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick
Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III
Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola
Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara
Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary
Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein
Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib
Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal
Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III
Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison
Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg
Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz
Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray
Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.
Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier
Slash's real name: Saul Hudson
Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard
Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona
Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson
Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer
Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones
Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler
Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks
Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell
Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen
Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton
Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan
Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black
Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister
John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin
Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin
Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp
Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion
Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth
David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones
Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman
Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie
Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley
Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank
Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor
Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld
The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans
Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday
Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico
Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne
Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi
Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini
Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis
Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson
Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner
Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad
Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler
Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo
Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel
Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield
Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks
Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch
Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk
Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira
Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)
Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt
Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan
Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke
Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford
M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders
Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett
Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine
Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls
Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews
Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis
Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum
Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain
Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder
Steel Panther’s real names
Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.