Mick Mars is an American musician who is the lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.
Who is Mick Mars?
Robert Alan Deal, known professionally as Mick Mars, was born on May 4, 1951, in Terre Haute, Indiana, but he grew up in Huntington, Indiana, and Garden Grove, California.
He dropped out of high school and played guitar in a series of unsuccessful blues-based rock bands throughout the 1970s, sometimes using the name Zorky Charlemagne.
After almost a decade of frustration with the California music scene, he reinvented himself, changed his name to Mick Mars, and dyed his hair jet black.
Career with Mötley Crüe
In April 1980, Mick Mars put a want ad in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler, describing himself as “a loud, rude and aggressive guitar player.”
Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee, who was putting together a new band that would soon become Mötley Crüe, contacted him and hired him after hearing him play. Mars has been the guitarist for Mötley Crüe ever since.
He contributed songwriting to other bands, such as John LeCompt, a former member of Evanescence, and the other band members of Machina, and to the Swedish band Crashdïet.
He also appeared on other bands’ albums, such as Hinder’s Take It to the Limit, Papa Roach’s Metamorphosis, and Dilana’s U.S. debut album Inside Out. In 2015, he played with Mötley Crüe on what was reported to be its final tour.
Mick Mars released a new song, “The Way I’m Wired,” with Black Smoke Trigger in November 2019. He was also featured on the hit single “Outlaws & Outsiders” by Cory Marks.
Mötley Crüe reunited in 2018 and started touring again in 2022. However, on October 26, 2022, Mars announced his retirement from touring with Mötley Crüe, and the band confirmed that John 5 had taken his place.
That same week, they announced Mars’ complete retirement from the band, supporting his decision, with John 5 taking his place starting with the 2023’s The World Tour with Def Leppard.
On April 6, 2023, Mars sued the band, alleging that he was unilaterally removed from the band.
Health Issues
Throughout most of his professional career, Mick Mars has struggled with ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic, inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. It was initially diagnosed when he was 17.
Aiva Arthur
