Mick Mars Talks Details About His Degenerative Disease Battle

Motley Crue’s guitarist, Mick Mars, recently had a sit-down interview with Jonathan Clarke of Out Of The Box on Q104.3, New York’s classic rock station. (Valium) There, he shared about his ongoing battle with a degenerative disease called ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the spine joints and ligaments and can lead to stiffness over time.

Mars assured that he was fine. He explained:

“My AS is what it is. There’s nothing I could do about that. The hard stuff, like flying here and doing this — that crap is a little difficult for me to do nowadays ’cause I’m almost a solid bone now. It got a little rough, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna do a lot of music. As long as my brain and my hands and legs work, I’m never stopping.”

When asked whether he is open to doing some limited live performances in support of his upcoming debut solo album, The Other Side of Mars, or not, Mars said:

“I would say if there was one-offs or a residency for a couple of nights or whatever, I could do that. But it’s the flying around. And then you get, like, let’s say Japan. And it’s like a 12-hour flight or something. And it’s just, like… I mean, getting older with this crap. I’m not 30 anymore; I’m 72 years old.”

Looking back, Mars filed a lawsuit against Motley Crue last April. Allegedly, his longtime bandmates were trying to kick him out of the group and even attempted to reduce his ownership stakes because of his current health issues.

Last year, Mars can be recalled announcing that he could no longer join the band on its tour because of his disease, but assured that he would be able to perform with them in a “residency situation” and in doing records. However, the band announced that Mars was “retiring” from the band in general and that he would be replaced by former Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson guitarist, John 5.

Mars then denied the band’s statement and insisted that he had no intention of retiring from the group. Thus, accusing the bassist and main songwriter Nikki Sixx of gaslighting Mars by alleging the guitarist had “some sort of cognitive dysfunction.”

The Other Side Of Mars will be released on February 23, 2024. It’s a project that Mars did in collaboration with Birmingham, Alabama rocker Jacob Bunton. Bunton sings lead on all but two of the 12 songs on the album.

Bunton is known for his past collaborations with former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler and Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer. He has also gained songwriting credits with Mariah Carey, Steven Tyler, and Smokey Robinson, among others in the past.