In a recent interview with the Talk Louder podcast, John Corabi listed all the guitarists Mötley Crüe brought in to replace Mick Mars.
The singer explained that he’s often asked about the band because of his past with them. He predicted Mars was being pushed out before the guitarist filed a lawsuit against his bandmates. At a London book signing in 2022, Corabi was asked about Mötley Crüe’s statement on Mars retiring. Corabi said he’d believe it only when Mick himself confirmed it. When asked why, he stated:
“And I’m pretty sure it’s common knowledge — I don’t think I enlightened anybody about anything, because even Mick has said doing the ‘Generation Swine’ record [1997] was the most miserable, worst f*cking time of my life and [drummer] Tommy [Lee] and [bassist] Nikki [Sixx] and [producer] Scott Humphrey literally got under Mick’s skin mentally and made him feel like he wasn’t a very good guitar player.”
Mötley Crüe Wasn’t Satisfied With Mick’s Playing
The rocker shared what other members wanted from him at the time:
“And at that point, I had been told that Vince was coming back. We wrote a bunch of those songs like the year prior. Vince is coming back, but the management had asked me to help them finish the record. So I said, ‘Okay.’ I got a call pretty much daily at, like, 9:30, 10 o’clock, and it was Tommy, Nikki and Scott all asking me to come into the studio early because they had Mick in the studio the night before and they were disappointed because they couldn’t get anything out of him.”
Corabi revealed who played guitars in some Mötley Crüe albums:
“So I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come in and play, but only if Mick is cool with it.’ They said, ‘Yep, he is. We already talked with him.’ ‘Okay. Killer.’ I went in, and Mick will tell you this as well — probably 80 percent of the guitars on ‘Generation Swine’ is me playing. So I know that they weren’t happy with Mick during ‘Generation Swine.’ I don’t know who played guitar on ‘New Tattoo’… I don’t know who played on that record, but I can tell you, after that, they did several new songs for the ‘Red, White & Crüe’ [compilation] record. That was DJ Ashba on guitar.”
Mötley Crüe Worked With Different Guitarists
The vocalist listed other guitarists Mötley Crüe worked or wanted to work with:
“They did ‘Saints 0f Los Angeles’ — also DJ Ashba on guitar. And then when they did the soundtrack for ‘The Dirt’, it was John 5…. And then, as you’ve all seen, [former Ozzy Osbourne bassist] Bob Daisley went on record saying, ‘Dude, when [Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe] did the ‘Bark At The Moon’ tour [together], they [Mötley Crüe] were trying to get [then-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist] Jake E. Lee to join their band back then’ — get rid of Mick and get Jake in.”
Corabi said everybody already knows all these:
“So, I’m not telling anybody anything new. This has all been in the press. Mick has stated things about the ‘Generation Swine’ record. There was a big feud between Tracii Guns and Nikki Sixx back in the day when they were doing Brides of Destruction. He was mad that they hired DJ Ashba and not him.”
Last year, Corabi told The Metal Voice that he didn’t know everything but expected the conflict. When Mick’s health problem was announced, he spoke up, but now he stays quiet about it. He’s not shocked by the drama.
You can watch Corabi’s entire chat below.