{"id":4881639,"date":"2022-10-28T18:30:45","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T22:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/?p=4881639"},"modified":"2022-10-29T09:59:26","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T13:59:26","slug":"who-is-mick-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/feature\/who-is-mick-mars-4881639\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Mars: 5 Things To Know About Motley Crue Guitarist Fighting &#8216;Crippling Degenerative Disease&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Motley Crue said they will &#8216;continue to honor&#8217; Mick&#8217;s legacy, as the guitarist retired from touring due to his battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Find out more about Mick here.<\/h3>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-1\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mick Mars retired from touring with Motley Crue on Oct. 26 due to his years-long battle with the degenerative disease Ankylosing Spondylitis, which can cause spinal vertebrae to fuse<\/li>\n<li>Mick co-founded the popular metal band alongside bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and lead singer Vince Neil in Los Angeles in 1981<\/li>\n<li>Former Marilyn Manson\/ Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 will be taking Mick&#8217;s place on Motley Crue&#8217;s tour with Def Leppard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-2\"><strong>Motley Crue<\/strong> released a statement following the news of their drummer, <strong>Mick Mars<\/strong>, stepping back from touring due to his years-long battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis. The heavy metal band, founded by Mick, <a  href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/2022\/08\/24\/tommy-lee-full-frontal-photo-reason-bender-video\/\"  ><strong>Tommy Lee<\/strong><\/a>, <strong>Nikki Sixx <\/strong>and <strong>Vince Neil<\/strong> in 1981, took to their <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CkOsdKEv2Sl\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  >Instagram<\/a> on Oct. 27, 2022 to announce they will continue on with their recent tour with Def Leppard, per Mick&#8217;s wishes, and to pay tribute to their friend and bandmate.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4881689\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4881689\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4881689 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Mick-Mars-Motley-Crue-Guitarist-shutter-embed-1.jpg?resize=620%2C432\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"432\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4881689\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mick Mars retired from touring with Motley Crue due to his battle with a degenerative disease. (Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-3\">&#8220;We have watched Mick manage his Ankylosing Spondylitis for decades and he has always managed it with utmost courage and grace,&#8221; the band said. &#8220;To say &#8216;enough is enough&#8217; is the ultimate act of courage.&#8221; They continued, &#8220;Mick&#8217;s sound helped define M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce from the minute he plugged in his guitar at our very first rehearsal together. The rest, as they say, is history. We&#8217;ll continue to honor his musical legacy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-4\">Keep reading to find out more about the legendary guitarist, below.<\/p>\n<h2>Mick Changed His Name Right Before Forming Motley Crue<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4881737\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4881737\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4881737 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Motley-Crue-ss-embed.jpg?w=620&#038;resize=620%2C406\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"406\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4881737\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Motley Crue will continue to tour without Mick Mars. (Chris Pizzello\/Invision\/AP\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-5\">Mick Mars was born Robert Alan Deal in Indiana on May 4, 1951. He soon moved to California where he began chasing his musical aspirations. After failing to find a successful band in Los Angeles, Robert decided to change his moniker to Mick and put an ad in the paper in 1981, famously reading, &#8220;loud, rude, aggressive guitar player available,&#8221; according to <a  href=\"https:\/\/loudwire.com\/motley-crue-founded-anniversary\/\"  rel=\"nofollow\"  target=\"_blank\"  ><em>LoudWire<\/em><\/a>. Nikki and Tommy answered the ad and the rest is history!<\/p>\n<h2>He Was Diagnosed With The Disease As A Teen<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-6\">Mick wrote in the band&#8217;s 2001 memoir\u00a0<em>The Dirt<\/em> that he started having problems with Ankylosing Spondylitis when he was 19. &#8220;My hips started hurting so bad every time I turned my body that it felt like someone was igniting fireworks in my bones. I didn\u2019t have enough money to see a doctor, so I just kept hoping that I could do what I usually do: will it away, through the power of my mind. But it kept getting worse.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Mick Became Addicted To Pain Killers<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CYzmAbeOI5n\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:500px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CYzmAbeOI5n\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\"  style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\"  target=\"_blank\"  > <\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: row;align-items: center\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 40px;margin-right: 14px;width: 40px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 100px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 60px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px\">\n<div style=\"color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: row;margin-bottom: 14px;align-items: center\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px;flex-grow: 0;margin-right: 14px;margin-left: 2px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 20px;width: 20px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 2px solid transparent;border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom: 2px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right: 8px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;flex-grow: 0;height: 12px;width: 16px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left: 8px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center;margin-bottom: 24px\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 224px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 144px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-7\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CYzmAbeOI5n\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\"  style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\"  target=\"_blank\"  >A post shared by Mick Mars (@mr.mickmars)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-8\"><script async src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-9\">With such an agonizing disease ravaging his body, Mick found some relief in pain killers. However, it became an addiction, and he ended up taking two years off from playing guitar to deal with it. \u201cI kept getting worse and worse, and I just stopped playing guitar for almost two years,\u201d Mick told <em><a  href=\"http:\/\/metalsludge.tv\/classic\/?p=31952\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"  >Metal Sludge<\/a><\/em> in 2008. \u201cNowadays, it\u2019s not so bad, but back then when I was high on all that stuff and Motley were having a break, I knew if I didn\u2019t stop I was gonna die.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>A Doctor&#8217;s &#8216;Bizarre&#8217; Treatment Made Mick A Better Guitarist<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-10\">At one of his lowest points, Mick ended up seeing a doctor who gave him some intructions to help with his struggling posture. &#8220;In the end, I had to go to a neuro-psychiatrist to straighten me up and he said to me, \u2018Just hold the guitar for an hour a day \u2013 don\u2019t play it, just hold it,'&#8221; he told <em>Metal Sludge<a  href=\"http:\/\/metalsludge.tv\/classic\/?p=31952\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"  >. <\/a><\/em>&#8220;It was pretty bizarre but I got through it, and in the end I think I\u2019m actually a better player because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Marilyn Manson&#8217;s Guitarist Will Be Replacing Mick<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-11\">Former Marilyn Manson\/ Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, who recently stopped his gig with Rob Zombie, will be taking Mick&#8217;s place on Motley Crue&#8217;s tour with Def Leppard. &#8220;I&#8217;m honored to carry on Mick&#8217;s legacy and am looking forward to playing these songs,&#8221; John wrote on Motley Crue&#8217;s <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CkOsdKEv2Sl\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  >Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Motley Crue said they will &#8216;continue to honor&#8217; Mick&#8217;s legacy, as the guitarist retired from touring due to his battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Find out more about Mick here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191609830,"featured_media":4881688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exclude_post_from_river":false,"_cr_original_post":"","_cr_replace_post_id":"","_cr_replacing_post_id":"","mt_seo_title":"Mick Mars: 5 Things About Motley Crue Guitarist","mt_seo_description":"Motley Crue said they will 'continue to honor' Mick's legacy, as the guitarist retired from touring due to Ankylosing Spondylitis.","_pmc_canonical_override":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[378005375,378005365],"tags":[247780],"_post-options":[378006328,378007568,378007567],"coauthors":[378007600],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Mick-Mars-Motley-Crue-Guitarist-shutter-ftr.jpg?fit=620%2C350","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc8i1J-ktW7","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4881639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191609830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4881639"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4881639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4881740,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4881639\/revisions\/4881740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4881688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4881639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4881639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4881639"},{"taxonomy":"_post-options","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post-options?post=4881639"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4881639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}