MICK MARS: 'I'm Gonna Be Touring A Long Time After MÖTLEY CRÜE'

MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars has once again dismissed reports that his poor health is partly to blame for the band's decision to retire from touring.

MÖTLEY CRÜE announced at a Los Angeles press conference on Tuesday (January 28) that the band will launch its "Final Tour" later this year, with the group planning to play 72 shows in North America in 2014 and more overseas in 2015. Making it official, the four members of the band had their lawyer draw up a formal "cessation of touring" agreement that goes into effect at the end of 2015 and prohibits the members of the group from going on the road again under the MÖTLEY CRÜE banner.

Speaking to Artisan News, MÖTLEY CRÜE members Mick Mars and Tommy Lee (drums) were asked to explain the reason for the band's decision to quit touring.

"You know, at some point, your work here is done," Lee said (see video below). "We've proven it to ourselves, we've proven it our fans, we've outdone ourselves. I mean, there's not much left for us to do but go say goodbye to everybody."

Added Mars: "I mostly get the health-reason thing. It's because I have ankylosing spondylitis, and you can physically see that in me, 'cause it distorts your body. It's a form of rheumatoid arthritis. I'm not gonna go too much into it, but I'm just explaining how it is. It doesn't stop me from touring — I'm gonna be touring a long time after MÖTLEY CRÜE. It is a bit of an inconvenience; sometimes it's rougher than other times. But my health is perfect. I mean, I go every six months to get a checkup. And I'm in really good shape and good health. The only thing is you can see what I have. Luckily… I feel lucky about that. 'Cause a lot of people have heart disease and other stuff like that and they don't even know it. And they keel over on stage or whatever… That would be scary to me."

Singer Vince Neil was asked why the band decided to call it quits now after more than 30 years. "We started talking about it a few years ago," he said. "You know, we didn't want to be one of those bands that maybe have one guy left in it or somebody's brother or something like that. You know, we wanted to be — we want to go out with the four founding members of MÖTLEY CRÜE and go out on top, and leave a legacy of a band called MÖTLEY CRÜE."

The special guest on the entire North American tour will be ALICE COOPER, marking the first time that the legendary shock rocker and the CRÜE will join forces live.

"The Final Tour" will kick off on July 2 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with tickets for 60 of the shows going on sale Wednesday (January 29) to fan club members.

VIP ticket packages will be made available to the general public on Thursday (January 30) at 10:00 a.m. local time. The general public ticket sale for most shows starts on Friday (January 31). All tickets and packages can be obtained via Ticketmaster.com.

In an effort to allow all fans a chance to see the tour, some ticket prices may be kept as low as $15 or $20.

The band will head overseas for the international portion of the trek in 2015.

No mention was made of whether the CRÜE will record a new album to go along with the tour, although the group hinted at the possibility.