The veteran guitarist will no longer play shows with the band but will remain a member of Crüe.
Mötley Crüe guitarist and founding member Mick Mars has retired from touring, according to an official statement released to Variety on Wednesday evening (October 26th).
“Mick Mars, co-founder and lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe for the past 41 years, has announced today that due to his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.), he will no longer be able to tour with the band. Mick will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road. A.S. is an extremely painful and crippling degenerative disease, which affects the spine.”
Mars, 71 (real name: Robert Deal), has struggled with the disease since his late teens but soldiered through for many years. He spoke about his first experiences with it in the group’s 2001 biography “The Dirt.” The 2019 biopic “The Dirt” also highlights Mars struggling with A.S.
“I kept getting worse and worse, and I just stopped playing guitar for almost two years,” he told Metal Sludge in 2008. “Nowadays, it’s not so bad, but back then when I was high on all that stuff and Motley were having a break, I knew if I didn’t stop I was gonna die. In the end, I had to go to a neuro-psychiatrist 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 in the end I think I’m actually a better player because of it.”
The news came after Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard announced their Latin American and Europe tour from February through July of 2023. There is no official word on who will replace Mars as the band’s touring guitarist. Check out tour dates here.
