In a recent interview with Guitar World, Mötley Crüe guitarist Nikki Sixx admitted that Mick Mars’ decision to leave the band was not a move they were expecting. Sixx revealed that they had to make a decision for the future of Mötley Crüe by explaining:
“We never saw it coming that Mick [Mars] wasn’t going to be able to tour and was going to have to quit the band. In the middle – not even the middle – of a huge tour, we had to ask ourselves, ‘Do we want to let the fans down? Do we want to let Live Nation down?’”
He continued:
“‘Do we want to let Def Leppard down? Do we want to let ourselves down because an original member of our band can’t tour anymore?’ We had to have a deep, deep look into what we were going to do.”
Nikki also shared with Guitar World that their decision to appoint John 5 to take over Mars’ place was initially to fulfill their tour commitments. However the guitarist also tweeted about their first rehearsal session and his excitement over how John 5 adapted to the band from the get go.
Sixx’s tweet read:
“Well, that was f*cking epic. John 5 walks into rehearsal, and we just rip the set from top to bottom seamlessly. That took 90 minutes, and then for the next few hours, we just laughed and told dumb rockstar war stories. Mötley Crüe day 1.”
Well that was fucking epic. @john5guitarist walks into rehearsal and we just rip the set from top to bottom seamlessly. 🤘🏽 That took 90 minute’s and then the next few hours we just laughed and told dumb rockstar war stories. @MotleyCrue DAY 1
— 📷 (@NikkiSixx) January 24, 2023
