Estranged Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars has eased up on the war of words with his former bandmates and says he would "of course" write material with them again if asked.
Mars and Crue have waged a bitter and public back-and-forth after the guitarist announced in October 2022 that was retiring from touring with the band due to his ongoing battle with the degenerative disease Ankylosing Spondylitis.
His announcement that he would quit touring seemed to suggest he would remain part of the group, but that he could "no longer handle the rigours of the road.”
John 5 was brought in as Mars' replacement, and in April 2023, Mars filed a lawsuit alleging that that the band wanted to cut his share in profits from their earnings from 25% to 5% – something they denied.
He also claimed that Nikki Sixx, singer Vince Neil and drummer Tommy Lee all used pre-recorded backing tracks during their last tour with Mars, something the rest of the band countered with sworn declarations from seven crew members saying they played live.
The mudslinging continued from both camps and any chance of a reconciliation appeared doomed.
But as he promotes his debut solo album The Other Side Of Mars, the guitarist has changed his tune.
He tells Audacy: "Now that I'm retired, I'm just me, you know? I mean, if Motley wanted me to write songs with them again, of course I would. But right now I'm just like me.
"So, I'm writing, and it's not Motley, and it's how I feel. My ideas and my kind of thing, and trying to reinvent myself or bring myself up to date. I listen back to some of the other things and I'm going like, ‘Wow, I was stuck in the 80s then.
"This time, after the final tour, I really got a chance to really hardcore buckle down and try to do something that's more new to me reinventing myself, like I say."
Mars discusses his solo album in depth in the new issue of Classic Rock magazine, which is available now.
