Here's why Mötley Crüe Guitarist Mick Mars filed lawsuit against bandmates?

Mick Mars, the 71-year-old guitarist whose real name is born Robert Deal, announced his retirement in October from touring with the headlining hard rock group Mötley Crüe.

The music icon cited a chronic ailment stemming from a spinal disease as a reason of his exit.

As reported by The New York Times on Thursday, Mars filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the other three members of the band of kicking him out of the group and cutting him off from future profits.

According to Mars’s claim, his bandmates Mötley Crüe, lead singer Vince Neil (born Vince Wharton), drummer (and inadvertent adult film star) Tommy Lee (born Thomas Bass), and bassist-principal songwriter Nikki Sixx (born Frank Feranna Jr.), responded to his decision by calling an emergency shareholders’ meeting with the principal members of the organization, and to throw him out of the band, take away the position of director of the corporation and his shares.

Mars’s lawyer, Edwin F. McPherson, released a statement, saying, "It is beyond sad that, after 41 years together, a band would try to throw out a member who is unable to tour anymore because he has a debilitating disease.” He added, "Mick has been pushed around for far too long in this band, and we are not going to let that continue."

The suit also claims that the band’s de facto leader Nikki Sixx has been making decisions without taking other group members on board, and that Mars has been on the receiving end of “gaslighting.” 

Mars also claimed that Sixx has accused him of poor guitar playing, hitting the wrong notes on stage, and claiming he had “some sort of cognitive dysfunction.”

However, an attorney for the band, Sasha Frid, called the suit “unfortunate and completely off base” saying that the members of the group signed an agreement in 2008 stating that they would cease receiving money if they resigned. 

Frid also revealed that Mars was offered a compensation package “despite the fact that the band did not owe Mick anything,” but “Mick refused and chose to file this ugly public lawsuit.”

For the unversed, the guitarist was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis decades ago, which is a kind of arthritis that causes lower back pain. Citing the disease, Mars issued a press release in October that he “can no longer handle the rigors of the road” but “will continue as a member of the band.” 

The band also issued an official statement statement soon after, referred to Mars as “retired” and announced John 5 as his replacement. 

Mars claimed that the band later demanded a signed agreement significantly reducing all further touring and merchandise profits, and that he would not be awarded any product that named or depicted his replacement.

Though the group's platinum-selling years were the 1980s, Mötley Crüe still has an active live performance schedule. 

The band released its last full-length album, Saints of Los Angeles in 2008.