JOHN CORABI Says His Stint With MÖTLEY CRÜE Was 'Beautiful' And 'Awesome' But It 'Was A Bit Of A Curse As Well'

In a new interview with the Celebrity Jobber Podcast With Jeff Zito, ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman John Corabi, who joined the band in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, was asked if he would consider his time with MÖTLEY CRÜE to be "the pivotal moment" in his career. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, yeah, in hindsight, that was the thing that put me on the map. Now, would have gotten there with [my pre-MÖTLEY CRÜE band] THE SCREAM? Possibly. [It's] hard to tell. But the MÖTLEY thing was the one that really projected me into a lot of different lights. And [a lot of people were saying], maybe, 'Who's this guy? Who's this Corabi guy that's replacing Vince Neil?'"

Reflecting on his MÖTLEY CRÜE tenure, which lasted from 1992 until 1996, John said: "It was beautiful, it was awesome, it was a lot of fun, it was eye-opening, but to some degree — not to be negative — it was a bit of a curse as well, because even still to this day, that's what people want from me… Even with this new [solo] material [I am about to release], I was, I don't wanna say 'worried' about it, but… My wife actually said this new record that I just did, 'New Day', is probably the most honest and real, I guess, statement from John Corabi. All the other things that I've done, it was me catering… I might have an idea, but I had three or four other people in the band that I had to compromise and change things for, and this is just me being me."

Elaborating on the criticism he has received for the musical direction of his new solo material, Corabi said: "I've seen a few comments — not many; it's minimal — but there's been a few people [saying things] like, 'Yeah, I'm waiting for him to do something heavy again, like the MÖTLEY record.' And it's just, like, dude, I did that 35 years ago. I did it already. This is just me as a 67-year-old man just going back and thinking about some of the music I grew up listening to, and this is my offering to whatever."

Asked if he looks at the experience of being in MÖTLEY CRÜE differently now that it has been three decades since his exit from the band and whether he is still glad he joined the legendary rock group, John said: "Honestly, dude. I don't regret anything. I've had a lot of people — I don't wanna say it drives me crazy, but even if you look at my bio, 'rock journeyman', and then it's the list of things that I've done and, but that was just the way things played out for me. I wish I was still sitting here talking about the 19th or 20th SCREAM album. And I think we had the talent and the capabilities of possibly doing that. But who knew I was gonna get a phone call from, at the time, one of the biggest bands in the world and they were gonna ask me to join their band? I didn't know that. There was no [looking into the] future, no crystal balls. I didn't know that. It happened. I made that choice. Even my bandmates in THE SCREAM were, like, 'Dude, if you don't do this, you're an idiot.' So I did that. And for as negatively as those guys talked about Vince Neil, how was I supposed to know he was gonna come back? I didn't know. Then I did UNION [with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, Brent Fitz and Jamie Hunting]. And I felt positive about it. The reviews that we got on the UNION music was great. We got great reviews. But again, who knew that I was gonna do that and we were gonna be totally in the height of the grunge thing? Same with the MÖTLEY record. It was just the way it played out. [UNION] never broke up. The thing with UNION was we were selling tickets to shows, but we weren't getting radio airplay, we weren't getting MTV airplay, we weren't getting any support from the industry, so we were selling tickets, word of mouth, mainly to KISS fans. So we were getting that, but we weren't making any money. It was mainly the KISS fans [who came out to see us], and then Bruce got the offer to do join GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. So it was, like, 'Hey, dude, we're gonna pay you way more money than you're making now to play your guitar for this legendary band.' And oddly enough, I, shortly after that, got offered the RATT [rhythm guitarist] gig. And then oddly enough, Brent and Jamie wound up getting offered the gig to play with Vince Neil. So it was very incestuous, whatever, but it was more about we never disagreed, there wasn't any infighting. It was just about four guys needing to pay their electric bill, and they just went to gigs that actually guaranteed them more money. That was it."

In a recent interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock, Corabi spoke about his current relationship with Neil. He said: "If I was to see Vince right now, he'd probably give me a hug, 'Hey, Crabby.' And we'd probably sit down and have a cocktail together. I've never had an issue with Vince. Even when he came back and he was doing the 'Generation Swine' [reunion] record [with MÖTLEY CRÜE], I sat with him a bunch and talked. I was, like, 'Hey, dude, I don't have any hard feelings.' He's, like, 'Yep. Nope. Me either.' I was, like, 'Sorry about your daughter.' He was, like, 'Sorry about your son having diabetes.' And I've seen Vince a gazillion times since then. He doesn't care. He's, like, 'Oh, yeah, dude. And we'll sit on his bus or he'll come on my bus and we'll just sit and bullshit for hours."

Regarding his relationship with some of the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE, John said: "To be honest with you, I was just — God, Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer] and I were just texting a month ago. We were going back and forth. And he saw that I got a record deal. He, was, like, 'Hey, good luck with the record, bro.' And I played him some stuff, and he was, like, 'Awesome.' I still talk to Mick [Mars, former MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist]… I speak with Mick. But Mick's wrapped up in his thing. Between THE [DEAD] DAISIES and the solo record that I just [completed], I've been busier than… It's been crazy. Mick and I, our birthdays are, like, two weeks apart. So, I'll get a text from him for my birthday. I'll send him one. If I see a funny meme or a joke or whatever, I'll send it to him. And so I'm all good with all those guys. The only one I don't really talk to, and it's unfortunate, is Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist], but that's his choice."

Corabi continued: "I'm not upset with any of those guys. I have nothing bad to say about those guys. But the bottom line of it is, I guess what I was trying to say is a lot of fans just think that Vince and I can't stand each other, and that couldn't be farther from the truth… So I'm fine with all those guys. Even Nikki — if Nikki came in here and wanted to talk, I'd be, like, 'Hey, dude, how have you been? What's up? How are the kids?' But whatever. It is what it is. So there is no bad blood between me and MÖTLEY CRÜE at all."

With Corabi on vocals, MÖTLEY CRÜE released one critically acclaimed full-length CD, which ended up being a commercial failure in the wake of grunge despite a Top 10 placing on the album chart. When Neil returned to the fold in 1997, Corabi was left on his own and formed the aforementioned UNION with Kulick.

In a 2016 interview with Sweden Rock Magazine, Sixx said that writing the "Mötley Crüe" LP with Corabi was a prolonged and difficult experience. He went to call it "a very unfocused record" that was "painful for me, because John Corabi can't write lyrics, and I had to do all that work."

Nikki added: "It was the first time I ever had to work with somebody that wanted to participate in the lyrics. And my standard is so high that it was so hard, it took months. Usually, I write a set of lyrics in an hour.

"It's all about having pent-up information and aggression and just [letting it out]. It was just hard, because [John] was a nice enough guy, but he just didn't have that fire, and it was hard for me."

In the Sweden Rock interview, Nikki also offered his theory as to why Mars and Lee have both publicly expressed their fondness for the Corabi-fronted album. He said: "I think Mick and Tommy love that record, 'cause it's [got] great drums, great guitars. And, yeah, I think there was a freedom in having a different singer, you know. But it was just hard for me to have to go slow. I'm just not a good 'slow' guy in the studio. I've been in sessions with other artists where [someone is working slowly] and I've just gotta bail; I've just gotta go. It's, like, you can create on the spot or you can't create. That's it with me. I just don't have patience for that."

In February 2018, Corabi released a live album of his performance of MÖTLEY CRÜE's entire 1994 self-titled album, recorded on October 27, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. "Live '94: One Night In Nashville" documents the album in its entirety along with the bonus track "10,000 Miles", which was originally released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the "Quaternary" EP.

Corabi will release his new full-length solo album, "New Day", on April 24, 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Corabi's autobiography, "Horseshoes And Hand Grenades", came out in June 2022 via Rare Bird Books. It was written with the help of MÖTLEY CRÜE historian/author Paul Miles.