JOHN CORABI: 'There Is No Bad Blood Between Me And MÖTLEY CRÜE At All'

In a new interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock, ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman John Corabi, who joined the band in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, spoke about his current relationship with Vince. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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 UNION with ex-KISS guitarist Bruce 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 debut 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.