In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx spoke about Mick Mars‘s ongoing legal battle with the iconic hard rockers, after the guitarist alleged that the group was pushing him out after he announced his retirement from touring.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. Only six months later, however, he filed a lawsuit against MÖTLEY CRÜE in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court, claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group’s corporation and business holdings via a shareholders’ meeting.

“(Mick) came to us and said, health-wise, he couldn’t fulfill his contract, and we let him out of the deal,” Sixx told the Los Angeles Times. “Then he sued us because he just said that he can’t tour. We were like, ‘Well, if you can’t tour, you can’t tour.’ I will probably come to that too someday.”

Sixx also addressed Mars‘s allegation in his lawsuit that the guitarist was the only bandmember to play 100 percent live on MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s 2022 The Stadium Tour”, claiming Nikki “did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour.”

“Anything we enhance the shows with, we actually played,” Sixx told the Los Angeles Times. “If there are background vocals with my background vocals, and we have background singers to make it sound more like the record. That does not mean we’re not singing.”

MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s attorney, Sasha Frid, wrote in a statement to the Los Angeles Times: “The fact of the matter is that MÖTLEY always plays live. Even Mars‘s expert witness in the litigation, who Mars hired and who reviewed hours of footage, agreed and said that the band played live while performing. He disputed Mars‘s own claims.”

Sixx went on to call Mars‘s accusations a “crazy betrayal”, adding: “Saying he played in a band that didn’t play, it’s a betrayal to the band who saved his life. People say things like, ‘Well, if you guys are really playing, then I need isolated tracks from band rehearsal.’ … It’s ludicrous.”

In response to Mars‘s lawsuit, CRÜE‘s manager of more than three decades, Allen Kovac, told Variety in a 2023 interview that Mars was coming out with a list of allegations “to gain leverage in a smear campaign on MÖTLEY. He’s attacked the band, and he’s done it in a slanderous way, with false accusations and misrepresenting the facts to the fans. Mick is not the victim. The victims are MÖTLEY CRÜE and the brand, which Mick is so prideful of.” But, he added, “What’s upsetting to me is not Mick, but his representatives, who have guided Mick to say and do harmful things to the brand he cares about so much, MÖTLEY CRÜE. He has a degenerative disease and people are taking advantage of him. It’s called elder abuse.”

Kovac continued: “Mick‘s representatives have no idea what they’ve created, but I’ve stopped the band from speaking about this, so they’re not gonna turn the fans against Mick. But I am going to make sure that people understand that Mick hasn’t been treated badly. In fact, he was treated better than anyone else in the band, and they carried him and they saved his life.”

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE in the summer of 2022 that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

Regarding Mick‘s claim that he was the only CRÜE member to play 100 percent live on the 2022 recent tour, Kovac told Variety at the time: “Everything is live with Nikki‘s bass playing and Tommy‘s [Lee] drum playing. When they’ve used loops, they’re still playing. There are augmented vocals, which were (recorded) in the studio and are backgrounds behind the two ladies who are singing and (other background vocals by) John 5 and Nikki Sixx, and before that Mick and Nikki.” He described the pre-recorded vocal layering as where “you multi-track and you do gang vocals with, like, 20 people, just like all the other bands do with background vocals. They’ve got background vocals in the mix. That’s the truth.

MÖTLEY CRÜEwill release a new compilation, “From The Beginning”, on September 12 on CD and vinyl via BMG.

“From The Beginning” spans four decades of CRÜE anthems, kicking off with the band’s first global single and MTV video “Live Wire” and winding through the years to 2024’s Top 5 rock smash “Dogs Of War”. In between are the hits and fan favorites that shaped the rock genre and a generation, including “Kickstart My Heart”, “Dr. Feelgood”, “Girls, Girls, Girls”, “Shout at the Devil”, “Smokin’ In The Boys Room”, “Wild Side” and many more. It includes a stunning new version of the band’s revered classic “Home Sweet Home”, reimagined as a heartfelt duet with none other than globally beloved superstar Dolly Parton.

The CD version of “From The Beginning” features 19 tracks, while the vinyl has been expanded to 21 songs, including “Afraid” and the title track of last year’s “Cancelled” EP.

CD track listing:

01. Live Wire
02. Take Me To The Top
03. Shout At The Devil [remastered – 2021]
04. Looks That Kill [remastered – 2021]
05. Too Young To Fall In Love [remastered – 2021]
06. Smokin’ In The Boys Room [remastered – 2021]
07. Home Sweet Home [remastered – 2021]
08. Girls, Girls, Girls
09. Wild Side
10. Dr. Feelgood
11. Without You
12. Kickstart My Heart
13. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
14. Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
15. Primal Scream
16. The Dirt (Est. 1981)
17. Saints of Los Angeles
18. Dogs Of War
19. Home Sweet Home (feat. Dolly Parton)

2LP track listing:

Side A

01. Live Wire
02. Take Me To The Top
03. Shout at the Devil [remastered -2021]
04. Looks That Kill [remastered – 2021]
05. Too Young To Fall In Love [remastered -2021]
06. Smokin’ In The Boys Room [remastered -2021]

Side B

01. Home Sweet Home [remastered -2021]
02. Girls, Girls, Girls
03. Wild Side
04. Dr. Feelgood
05. Without You

Side C

01. Kickstart My Heart
02. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
03. Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
04. Primal Scream
05. Afraid *

Side D

01. Saints of Los Angeles
02. The Dirt (Est. 1981)
03. Dogs Of War
04. Cancelled *
05. Home Sweet Home (feat. Dolly Parton)

* LP-only tracks