MÖTLEY CRÜE manager Allen Kovac has accused representatives for Mick Mars of “Elder Abuse”
Speaking with Variety, Kovac said he was so infuruiated with Mick Mars‘ recent interview with the publication that he agreed to go on record himself to address the guitarist’s accusations.
Kovac clams Mick is listing off these 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.”
He 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.”
A particular part of the lawsuit that Kovac also addressed was Mick’s claim that he was the only member to play 100 percent live on their most recent tour, claiming bassist Nikki Sixx “did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour.”
“Everything is live with Nikki’s [Sixx] bass playing and Tommy’s [Lee] drum playing,” says Kovac. “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 [Neil] 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 sound board.”
In response to the lawsuit, Nikki Sixx responded on Twitter, writing: “Sad day for us and we don’t deserve this considering how many years we’ve been propping him up. We still wish him the best and hope he find’s [sic] lawyers and managers who aren’t damaging him. We love you Mick.”
Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE last October due to his ongoing struggles with ankylosing spondylitis, an arthritic condition which affects the spine and sacroiliac joint. That being said, Mars maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 strictly taking his place on the road. In Mick’s lawsuit, which was filed last Thursday (April 6), Mars said that, after his announcement, the rest of MÖTLEY CRÜE attempted to remove his significant holdings in the band’s business.
