Vince Neil says Motley Crue’s farewell tour plans are not related to guitarist Mick Mars’ health, following recent comments to the contrary by drummer Tommy Lee.
"I don't know why Tommy would say that,” Neil tells Vegas Rocks! Magazine. “It really had nothing to do with Mick's health. It was just because we all felt — at least me and Nikki [Sixx, bass] and Mick — felt that it was just we didn't wanna go out on the bottom. We didn't wanna be one of those bands that start fading away. We've been on top for 32 years, and it's great. And it's just like, you know what? By the time we finish this tour, it'll be in 35 years of Motley Crue. So… that's really kind of it."
Throughout his career, Mars has struggled with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a chronic, inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. It was initially diagnosed when he was 17 years old, and has increasingly impaired his movement and has caused him a great deal of pain, which led to hip-replacement surgery at the end of 2004.
Last month, Lee told Canadian producer and performer Deadmau5 on his online series “Coffee Run” (watch it here) that “the farewell tour is next. This will be it. Our guitar player [Mars] has a spinal disease that's slowly fusing his vertebrae together. It's one of those things that's treatable, but not curable. So it's just progressively getting really worse and it's painful for him, so he doesn't wanna tour much longer. I can't say I blame him.”
Mars took to Twitter to deny Lee’s comments, writing, "Once again, any rumors regarding a farewell tour due to 'my poor health is BS. I am doing fine, my AS has never kept me from touring", adding, "Thank all of you for knowing the truth… When I'm done touring, you'll hear it from me."
Mars posted a similar tweet in August following comments by Neil – read more details here.
Motley Crue recently wrapped up their second Las Vegas residency at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where they played an exclusive 12-show run from September 18 through October 6.
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