Former Motley Crue frontman John Corabi previously talked about if he is “surprised” by all the “public fighting” that has been going on between Motley Crue’s founding guitarist Mick Mars and his bandmates. Last year in October, John 5 departed Rob Zombie’s band to become a part of Motley Crue as he replaced Mick Mars as the guitarist struggled with health issues.
The split seemed amicable enough until Mars sued the band for his share of the profits, accusing bassist Nikki Sixx of “gaslighting” him into thinking that his mental faculties were declining and that memory loss was preventing him from playing the songs properly.
Mars also added that the hair metal legends extensively used backing tracks, claiming that Nikki didn’t play live at well, something that the guitarist was opposed to.
In a recent interview with Cassius Morris, Corabi, who joined the band in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, was asked if he thinks there is any truth to Mick Mars’s claim that he was the only bandmember to play 100 percent live on Crue’s 2022 stadium tour, claiming bassist Nikki Sixx “did not play a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour.” Corabi responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“Nowadays recording on Pro Tools, ’cause I released a couple of [solo] songs a little bit ago, if you said to me, ‘Hey, can you just give me the rhythm guitar track?’ I could literally just go online, highlight that track and e-mail you just that track. So as far as the drums go or any of that stuff nowadays with computers and all that shit? Yeah, it’s possible. Is it happening? I don’t know. I haven’t toured with Motley for 27 years, 28 years.”
He was asked if Motley used any backing tracks while he was in the band, Corabi said:
“No. I mean, we did use tracks. I’ll say that right now. We were using some backing vocal tracks, and we used, for the song ‘Misunderstood’, there was a 53-piece orchestra on that track, so we just used the orchestra tracks to enhance what we were doing live on stage. But then Nikki was playing bass, Tommy [Lee] was playing drums, Mick was playing guitar, I was playing guitar and I was singing. Now whether or not they’ve elaborated since — I couldn’t tell you. I haven’t seen Motley live since… I saw them one time in my entire life, and that was a tour they did in, like, 2003 or [200]4 with… they toured with Aerosmith. And I saw them that one time, and I haven’t seen them since. So I don’t know about Mick’s claims. Mick has never really been a bullshitter in the past, so if he says they were using tracks, then, you know, maybe they were. I don’t know.”
He was further pressed about if he cares at all personally about whether or not bands use backing tracks during live shows, John said:
“That’s not for me to determine. Honestly, I’m sure it’s out there, the bands that are using tracks to enhance their sound. If the fans wanna pay the money for a ticket knowing that there’s probably tracks being played, then that’s their call. Personally, I don’t really believe in it myself. I have a solo band [and] The Dead Daisies; we don’t use any tracks at all. Are the backing vocals as strong as they are on the record? No, but it’s live. I remember as a kid seeing Aerosmith and hearing four-part harmonies on songs that Aerosmith did [on record], and then I’d go see them live and it was just Steven [Tyler] and Joe Perry singing, this kind of ratty little whatever. And I always enjoyed it. It was about seeing the whole band, seeing the whole process and seeing the show. So personally, I wouldn’t do it. But that’s just me. Other bands choose to do it, and the fans are still buying tickets for ’em. Then great. Awesome. Knock yourself out. I have no comment, positive or negative, on the subject at all. To each his own. That’s why they have 32 flavors of Baskin-Robbins [ice cream].”
