STEPHEN PEARCY Says MICK MARS Was Treated With 'Disrespect' By MÖTLEY CRÜE

RATT's Stephen Pearcy has weighed in on Mick Mars's lawsuit against MÖTLEY CRÜE, saying that "it's a drag that it had to go there."

When Mars, a co-founding member of MÖTLEY CRÜE, announced his retirement from touring with the group last October as a result of worsening health issues, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in his lawsuit, which was filed on April 6 in Los Angeles County's Superior Court, the 71-year-old musician said that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting. In his lawsuit, Mars also alleged that he was the only bandmember to play 100 percent live on their most recent tour, claiming MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx "did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour."

Mick's lawsuit came less than a month after legendary drummer Carmine Appice told Ultimate Guitar that he had been talking to the guitarist about his exit from MÖTLEY CRÜE: "Mick told me, 'When I was on 'The Stadium Tour', I was not happy,'" Carmine said. "Basically, everything was on tape; it was all planned out and ultimately a lot of crap. And Mick is a pretty good player, and so to now let him loose and play the way he wants, that was never going to work for him. The truth is that everything has been weird for a while with MÖTLEY CRÜE, and Mick didn't like that everything was on tape. Mick told me that people that came to see it could tell that it was all pre-recorded and that everything was on tape."

On March 15, Sixx, who had not given any interviews about Mars's departure from CRÜE, apparently responded directly to Appice's comments, writing in a tweet: "Love how people talk FOR us without talking TO us. This is why the media has lost credibility. Obviously by printing BS they make money off of advertising and we're not into that clickbait game. When the truth comes out it will be FROM üs." He added later that same day: "A washed up drummer trying to speak for us? And bottom feeder media running with it to make money off of lies? Welcome to the sad new world of LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME."

Pearcy discussed Mars's legal dispute with CRÜE and Sixx's comments about Carmine in a new interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, when I first got wind of that… Carmine's a great friend of mine, Carmine Appice. And when I saw that, I was just shocked that… He was so close to those guys too; Carmine was very close to everybody, and closer with Mick Mars. So unbeknownst to me too… I mean, look, I knew they did some of that tape stuff back a bit, but I didn't know it was so overblown, which is crazy. I just didn't like the disrespect. And you know what? I could give a shit, man.

"I do [solo] shows with Vince [Neil, CRÜE singer]. Vince is my brother, man… That'll never change. We hit the Strip together. We were the gladiators together. Robbin [Crosby, late RATT guitarist] lived with Nikki.

"Yeah, I thought it was disrespect to brother Mick, as a gladiator. And to Carmine. I mean, holy shit. That kind of bummed me out.

"You know what? Life's short, man, and a lot of us are dropping like flies," Pearcy continued. "And you've gotta remember — this is 40 years later. The ones that are still standing should give respect to one another.

"So I was a little dismayed at the comment," Stephen added. "But that's their trip; it's not mine. I could give a shit… I understand what Mick's going through… "It's just a drag that it had to go there. And then it snowballed into something even bigger."

According to Pearcy, last year wasn't the first time that CRÜE had thought about replacing Mars. "They tried to get Jake E. [Lee] from my band, from MICKEY RATT, when Jake E. was in the band. It was, like, 'Are you never satisfied? You've got Mick right here. You guys are already 'Too Fast For Love'. You're already doing your first record.' When they released that first record, 'Too Fast For Love', if I'm correct, we were still hanging and they were trying to swipe Jake E. It's very interesting to think about it, actually."

When host Jason Green asked Pearcy if it's true that Sixx and CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee initially tried to form a band with Stephen and Robbin before Vince joined the group, Pearcy responded: "You know, I don't know. It's, like, he [Nikki] was never really happy with him [Vince] either. Hence John Corabi. I don't know. You know what? It's a shame, because right now we should all be embracing this '80s scene. I mean, they're out doing the stadium thing for the second time, except there's a little fart in the road. But it tells you how much people are still grooving on the '80s and miss it and want it, and they really don't give a shit how they get it sometimes."

In response to Mars's lawsuit, CRÜE's manager of 29 years, Allen Kovac, told Variety that Mars is coming out with a list of allegations "to gain leverage in a smear campaign on MÖTLEY. He's attacked the band, and he's done it in a slanderous way, with false accusations and misrepresenting the facts to the fans. Mick is not the victim. The victims are MÖTLEY CRÜE and the brand, which Mick is so prideful of." But, he added, "What's upsetting to me is not Mick, but his representatives, who have guided Mick to say and do harmful things to the brand he cares about so much, MÖTLEY CRÜE. He has a degenerative disease and people are taking advantage of him. It's called elder abuse."

Kovac continued: "Mick's representatives have no idea what they've created, but I've stopped the band from speaking about this, so they're not gonna turn the fans against Mick. But I am going to make sure that people understand that Mick hasn't been treated badly. In fact, he was treated better than anyone else in the band, and they carried him and they saved his life."

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE last summer that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

Regarding Mick's claim that he was the only CRÜE member to play 100 percent live on their most recent tour, Kovac told Variety: "Everything is live with Nikki's bass playing and Tommy's drum playing. When they've used loops, they're still playing. There are augmented vocals, which were (recorded) in the studio and are backgrounds behind the two ladies who are singing and (other background vocals by) John 5 and Nikki Sixx, and before that Mick and Nikki." He described the pre-recorded vocal layering as where "you multi-track and you do gang vocals with, like, 20 people, just like all the other bands do with background vocals. They've got background vocals in the mix. That's the truth.

"But Nikki played his bass and always has," Kovac continued. "Vince was singing better than he was before (on the latest tour). That was in reviews. Now, John 5 is playing like who John 5 is. I've heard John 5 perform and I heard Mick perform. Both are great guitar players. Unfortunately, Mick is not the same. He hasn't been the same for a long time. Which was in reviews! You see that the professionals knew. DEF LEPPARD (which alternated headlining spots on tour) knew. And (Mars) caused a train wreck up there, because he would play the wrong songs and the wrong parts, even with the guide tracks. When he played the wrong song, it wasn't Nikki Sixx that had a tape; it was the soundman bringing it into the mix so the audience could hear a song, even though the guitar player was playing a different song." He says audiences "would hear it at first, but (sound engineers) would fix it so that we could keep the song going. I heard it. I'd go to the soundboard."