JOHN CORABI Explains His 'Quagmire' When It Comes To Answering Questions About MÖTLEY CRÜE

On a recent episode of the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS),ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman John Corabi, who joined the band in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, was asked about the fact that he was " one of the early predictors" that guitarist Mick Mars "was being shoved out of" CRÜE, forcing the guitarist to file a lawsuit against his bandmates a little over a year ago. Corabi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "This is the little quagmire that I have to deal with, and I expect it, because in the grand scheme of things, the thing that put me on the map was MÖTLEY CRÜE. I get it. And it just seems like every time they do something, I get asked a question about what they're doing. Now I've tried to do this before where in an interview, somebody said, 'Oh, hey, dude, what do you think of this MÖTLEY…?' And I said, 'Next question. I'm not answering this. I have nothing to say.' Well, that video came out, and then I started getting e-mails on Facebook and Instagram, 'Oh, dude, you ungrateful prick. Oh, you can't fucking talk about MÖTLEY CRÜE.' So, I go, 'Okay. Well, you know what? I'll answer.' Now if you go on, if I answer anything, all the comments are, like, 'Doesn't this motherfucker have anything to talk about besides MÖTLEY CRÜE?' He was in the band for five minutes and he was a loser.' And so I go, 'Fuck. Whatever.'

"[Someone] asked me a question when I was in London when my book came out [in the fall of 2022]. I was doing a book signing and they had a live audience there and they were asking me questions. And that statement had just come out from MÖTLEY, and it said, 'Mick's retiring. We're gonna continue on with John 5,' and yada, yada, yada. And all I said was, 'I will believe that statement when Mick releases it. The statement that we've been given has come from MÖTLEY and its management. This seems more like a damage-control thing than… I don't believe a word of it until Mick releases the statement.' And then someone asked me another question and they said, 'Well, why do you think that?' 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 fucking 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. 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. 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. They did 'Saints Of 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. 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. So I didn't tell anybody anything new, but it was funny, when I said it, everybody goes, 'Dude, you're so full of shit. You don't know what you're talking about. Mick's sick.' And I go, 'Oh, okay. We'll see.' And I have to admit the morning it came out that Mick was suing them, my phone just started blowing up: 'Oh, hey, dude. Sorry. Sorry I said [what I said].' And I wasn't gloating or anything — I didn't give a shit; I really don't give a shit. If you ask me a question, I'm gonna give you an honest answer. But I don't give a shit either way. That's their news, that's their dirty laundry they've gotta sort it out. But it was just funny. I just catch flack all the time. It doesn't matter what I say, what I do. In regards to MÖTLEY, I'm gonna be the asshole. Whatever. And I guarantee you a snippet of this will be on Blabbermouth tomorrow."

Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.

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 in the summer of 2022 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.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in early April 2023 the now-73-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court claiming 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.