Stars Who Can't Stand Motley Crue
Lewd, rude, and bursting with a bad attitude, it's easy to see why Mötley Crüe might not be everyone's cup of whisky-infused tea. Throughout the glam rock band's decades-long existence (with a brief retirement that no one believed would last), they have ruffled more than a few feathers and attracted as many detractors as they have fans due to their outlandish behavior and in-your-face personas. In some cases, these dissenters are their fellow musical peers or notable stars in the entertainment industry.
Considering the biggest controversies surrounding Mötley Crüe, the levels of beef between the band and others vary from medium rare to well done — and some simmer on the grill for decades without much development. Former members such as singer John Corabi and guitarist Mick Mars feel betrayed because of the way they have been treated by the current iteration of the band. In the instance of someone like Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, he simply enjoys throwing jabs and barbs at the Crüe, treating them as if they are his generation's Nickelback. Whichever way one looks at it, there's no disputing the Californian rockers are far from being a universally beloved musical act.
So, let's take a drive down Sunset Boulevard, throw the devil horns up at the crowd standing outside the Whisky a Go Go, and uncover the stars who can't stand the rock 'n' roll live wires known as Mötley Crüe for one reason or the other.
Mick Mars
For over four decades, since the band's inception, guitarist Mick Mars shredded on stage and in the studio for Mötley Crüe. While he might not have had the same mega-star persona of Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, or Nikki Sixx, no one can deny that the rock 'n' roll outfit would sound different without his unique riffs and special crunchy guitar tone. In 2022, a rep for Mars told Variety that he would step away from the rigors of the road due to his medical condition of ankylosing spondylitis. However, in the Crüe's statement about Mars, they suggested he was retiring from the band altogether.
Something didn't seem right here, and it was unsurprising when news broke of Mick Mars' lawsuit against Mötley Crüe. He claimed he was being forced out of the band and that he was the only member who played all their parts live, while the band's lawyers claimed he effectively quit altogether when he retired from touring and that it was Mars who struggled to perform.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2023, Mars stated that he had no relationship with any of the other members outside of band business for decades; however, he refused to let them tarnish his legacy. "When they wanted to get high and f*** everything up, I covered for them," he said. "Now they're trying to take my legacy away, my part of Mötley Crüe, my ownership of the name, the brand."
Eddie Vedder
Dvmmoms established itself as the pure antithesis of glam rock. The genre wasn't about the glitz and glamor of the party life and the hedonism that came with it, but all about the angst and raw emotion that fill the human existence. Expectedly, bands such as Pearl Jam and Mötley Crüe have about as much in common as directors Wes Anderson and Uwe Boll.
In a 2022 interview with The New York Times, Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder explained how he used to work at a San Diego club in the 1980s and saw a lot of bands pass through — with a particular one he disliked a lot. "I'd end up being at shows that I wouldn't have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-'80s MTV," he said. "The metal bands that — I'm trying to be nice — I despised. 'Girls, Girls, Girls' and Mötley Crüe: [expletive] you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous."
Nikki Sixx wasn't about to let Vedder have the last word here, so he took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share what he thought of Pearl Jam. He wrote: "Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated [Mötley Crüe]. Now considering that they're one of the most boring bands in history it's kind of a compliment, isn't it?"
Lars Ulrich
Metallica's shadiest moments could rival Mötley Crüe's, as both bands are well established at being magnets for controversy and divisiveness in the music scene. Despite the two groups forming in 1981, they weren't exactly on the same page — musically and personally. They played two very different brands of metal, and this all came to a head in Southern California in 1982. As Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone in 2015: "One night out in front of the Troubadour we're standing there in our Iron Maiden shorts and after a couple of, you know, cold Schlitz malt liquors, we saw Nikki and Tommy. And it was like, 'F*** Mötley Crüe!' And I remember Nikki started chasing after me." According to Ulrich, Nikki Sixx didn't catch him that evening.
The truth about Mötley Crüe and Lars Ulrich's feud is that it didn't stop there. Ulrich suggested the Crüe played to a tape at the 1997 American Music Awards, while Sixx lashed out at Ulrich in a message board and proceeded to insult Ulrich's appearance and his drumming ability, as well as Metallica's music. Tommy Lee also had his say on X when he posted an image of Ulrich with the caption: "Straight Outta Tempo."
In 2015, Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil hung up on the radio show "Tanner in the Morning" after being asked about the reported Metallica-Crüe feud and Metallica's accusations of him lip-synching on stage.
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne is no stranger to controversy considering how her husband Ozzy Osbourne landed a bad reputation in the music world. The Black Sabbath frontman also interacted with Mötley Crüe throughout the decades, with the Crüe often sharing a wild story about how Ozzy snorted a line of ants and licked up urine on one memorable occasion. This anecdote even featured in the band's 2019 biopic film, "The Dirt," where Ozzy is played by actor Tony Cavalero of "The Righteous Gemstones" fame.
Speaking on "The Osbournes" podcast in 2023, Sharon explained how she can't confirm the story because she wasn't there (Ozzy said it happened); however, she stated: "I used to try and stay away from Mötley when they were with Ozzy." She also bemoaned how the Crüe were relying on Ozzy for the marketing of "The Dirt" instead of shining the light on the actual band, and the Osbournes went back and forth about the reasons for this. Eventually, this culminated with Sharon saying, "Nikki Sixx: a**hole." Ozzy contested her comment about Sixx, but Sharon fired back: "Yes, he f***ing is."
After Sharon's comments did the rounds on social media and attracted fan attention (and backlash), Sixx urged his followers to lay off attacking Sharon and insisted he and the band adore and respect both her and Ozzy. "Not sure what she's upset about now but let's not [perpetuate] her comments by posting negativity about her," he wrote on X.
Steel Panther
Steel Panther operates as a pastiche of glam rock, imitating the look, sound, over-the-top attitudes, and lyrical content of bands like Mötley Crüe, but the group does it in such a way that it is more of a humorous tribute than an outright mockery of the era. However, it doesn't appear as if everyone is in on the joke or a fan of songs such as "The Burden of Being Wonderful" and "Anything Goes," as Steel Panther drummer Stix Zadinia told Music Life Magazine.
"Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx did not like it when we went on tour with them in 2011," he said. "And that was the only time that we really felt unwelcome. The thing with those guys is I think they thought we were actually making fun of them directly. And I just gotta chalk that up to their egos being too big, because nothing that we do has anything to do with them directly."
Matters weren't helped much when Steel Panther's singer Michael Starr made a joke to Little Punk People that he would bring back Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil from the dead if he could. Neil wasn't dead, of course, so Starr's comment was a sly dig at how he thought Neil isn't the performer he once was. Sixx didn't react kindly to Starr's joke, putting him on blast on X: "The singer in Steal Panther can go f*** himself... wanna be band putting down [Vince Neil]?"
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie and Mötley Crüe's paths crossed over the years. Drummer Tommy Lee played on two tracks, "Meet the Creeper" and "The Ballad of Resurrection Joe and Rosa Whore," off Zombie's 1998 album, "Hellbilly Deluxe," while there were rumors the "Dragula" singer was set to direct the Crüe biopic film, "The Dirt," once upon a time. However, there might be a case of lingering resentment on Zombie's part now after the Crüe poached his guitarist John 5 as the official replacement for Mick Mars in 2022.
For close to two decades, John 5 served as Zombie's axman and became a crucial component of the band's ghoulish sound. Appearing on "Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk" (via Blabbermouth), John 5 confirmed that Zombie wasn't all too pleased with his decision to depart the group, but he respected it. At the same time, he added how he hadn't spoken to or texted Zombie since he left the band since he was worried that his former boss might not respond to him.
Speaking on "The Mistress Carrie Podcast," Nikki Sixx reiterated what John 5 said about Zombie's disappointing reaction to the news of the departure, while adding how much he respects Zombie and it wasn't his intention to "steal" John 5 from him in the first place. To be fair to Zombie, he hasn't publicly said a bad word about Mötley Crüe, but he is unlikely to be their biggest fan after they headhunted his guitarist.
Nicolas Cage
Hollywood star Nicolas Cage holds a special connection to the rock and metal scene, especially since his son Weston was also involved in black metal bands. In 2013, Cage and his son attended a Mötley Crüe show and hung out with Vince Neil after the gig in the dressing room. According to reports, Weston stood in the entranceway to the room and this angered Tommy Lee, who couldn't get past him. Instead of asking Weston to politely move, since he was likely unaware he was blocking the path to begin with, Lee supposedly shoved him and threw an obscenity for him to get out of his way. A rattled Weston didn't back down from Lee, and an argument exploded between the two men as security intervened before it turned physical.
Three years later, Nicolas Cage found himself in another Mötley Crüe-related incident — this time with his pal Vince Neil. A woman reportedly approached Cage outside of a Las Vegas hotel and asked for his autograph. For some unknown reason, Neil is alleged to have grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her to the floor. Immediately, Cage grabbed hold of Neil and attempted to restrain him in a heavy-handed manner while screaming at him to stop it.
Publicly, Cage has never addressed the incidents, but it's plausible to think he might avoid hanging out with Mötley Crüe in light of these events — involving both him and his son.
John Corabi
In the '90s, John Corabi replaced Vince Neil as the singer of Mötley Crüe. It proved to be a controversial shake-up — not only because Neil's voice had become synonymous with the band, but also due to their attempt to infuse a grungier aesthetic into their music. The Nü Crüe didn't last for long, and Mötley Crüe fired Corabi in 1996 after pressure from the record label to bring back Neil.
Despite being dumped from the group, Corabi remained civil about the Crüe in the years thereafter — until Nikki Sixx started to publicly trash his time in the band and his contributions. In a 2016 interview with Sleaze Roxx, Corabi explained how he had spoken to Neil about comments that Sixx had made about him and his writing for the self-titled 1994 album. Neil was reported to have told Corabi: "Dude, you know Nikki."
After rumors surfaced a few years later that Corabi might rejoin the band, the singer took to his Facebook account to shut them down. "After my incredibly stupid portrayal in 'The Dirt' movie, and the ludicrous s***ty statements of one of the band members in regards to my contributions and lack of 'writing talents,' yours truly is not even remotely interested in doing that again," he wrote. While it appears that Corabi's issue seems to be more with Sixx than the others, it's unlikely that he will be standing up and shouting for them anytime soon.
The Raskins
For any upcoming musical act, sharing the stage with Mötley Crüe can open many doors. Not only do they reach a wider audience, but it's also like an acknowledgement that they deserve to be up there among the legends of rock. Twin brothers Roger and Logan Raskin, who perform under the moniker of the Raskins, must have believed the same as they paid $1 million to join a Crüe tour, which also included Alice Cooper, in 2014. Whatever feelings they might have had about this tour initially seem to have soured, considering the Raskins filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe two years later.
According to Courthouse News Service, the Raskins sought over $30 million in damages for a reported tour from hell. Among the allegations: The band played to half-empty venues because the doors weren't opened to the shows on time, they weren't allowed to sell their merch, they couldn't make use of the dressing rooms, they were assaulted by crew members, and they were intentionally sabotaged while performing. In addition, the Raskins claimed crew members of Mötley Crüe ran on stage during one of their gigs and sprayed them with urine from water guns.
According to the lawsuit, a representative of Mötley Crüe's tour management company didn't respond positively when the Raskins broached the issues they had while on tour. The person is alleged to have said to them, "I am going to make your lives hell."
Chad Gray
For Mudvayne and Hellyeah vocalist Chad Gray, his issue with Mötley Crüe isn't personal at all. In fact, it comes from the place of a person who is a self-confessed fan of the band and wants to preserve the memories of their glory days and not what they've become.
Appearing on Jesea Lea's podcast in 2024, Gray explained how the Crüe played a pivotal role in shaping his musical interests in his youth — especially when he first heard the band's single "Live Wire," which is off their debut album, "Too Fast for Love." That said, Gray didn't mince his words about where the group now stands in his eyes, stating how they either need to call time on their career or be better, specifically in the vocal department. However, he added that as a vocalist he understands how a singer's voice changes over the years.
"It's not the same, dude," he said. "I'm not the guy that f***ing like just wants to sit and talk s**t, but I have, unfortunately... It hits me in such a pure place, and to see it just kind of turn into f***ing whatever because it was such a big part of my life, and so it's hard for me to watch."
To learn more about all the drama and full story of one of rock 'n' roll's most notorious bands, check out the untold truth of Mötley Crüe.