Classic Rock 93.9

Guitarist Mick Mars is suing Mötley Crüe.

In docs seen by ABC Audio, Mars alleges that his share of the Crüe’s profits were decreased following his retirement from touring last October, and that the other band members — Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil — played to pre-recorded tapes during last summer’s Stadium Tour.

As previously reported, the “Kickstart My Heart” outfit announced that Mars, 71, was getting off the road due to his ongoing battle his ongoing battle with the inflammatory disease ankylosing spondylitis, or AS. Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 was named Mars’ replacement. A rep for Mars told Variety a day before the announcement that the guitarist “will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road.”

In his suit, however, Mars alleges that, following the retirement announcement, Mötley reduced his share of the profits from 25% to 5%.

The suit also states that bassist Sixx “gaslighted” Mars by telling him his “guitar playing was sub par,” while Sixx himself “did not play a single note on bass” live.

“A significant portion of Neil’s vocals were also pre-recorded,” the suit reads. “Even some of Lee’s drum parts were recordings.”

Mötley Crüe reunited in 2019 with original members Mars, Sixx, Lee and Neil, after playing what was advertised as their “final” show on New Year’s Eve 2015. They announced the Stadium Tour with Def Leppard for 2020, which was delayed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

News of the lawsuit follows a recent interview Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice gave to Ultimate Guitar, in which he claimed that Mars was “not happy” on the Stadium Tour because “everything was on tape.” Sixx responded to Appice by calling him a “washed up drummer.”

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Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon is mourning the loss of his wife Nora Forster, who passed away at age 80, after suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. The news was revealed on the Twitter account of Lydon’s band Public Image Ltd.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster – John Lydon’s wife of nearly 5 decades – has passed away,” read the post. “Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years. In which time John had become her full time carer.” The statement continued, “Please respect John’s grief and allow him space. Rest in Peace Nora.” 

Lydon and Forster married in 1979. In 2018, Lydon revealed his wife’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and in 2020 shared that he had become her full-time caregiver.  

In February, Lydon and PiL competed to represent Ireland in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, performing the tune “Hawaii,” which Lydon wrote about Nora’s battle with the disease. At the time he noted the song was “dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most.”

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RATT’s classic albums are being celebrated with a brand new box set. Ratt: The Atlantic Years’ Limited Edition Box Set, dropping June 9, will feature five studio albums, all remastered on 180g black vinyl. 

Albums in the set include 1984’s Out of the Cellar, which features their classic song “Round and Round,” 1985’s Invasion of Your Privacy, 1986’s Dancing Undercover, 1988’s Reach for the Sky and 1990’s Detonator. They all feature the classic RATT lineup of Stephen Pearcy, Warren DeMartini, Robbin Crosby, Juan Croucier and Bobby Blotzer.

In addition to the remastered albums, the box set will feature a seven-inch single of “Nobody Rides for Free, which was released in 1991 and featured in the Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves flick Point Break. The set also includes a 12-page replica tour book, with never-before-seen photos, a poster, bumper sticker, replica backstage pass and a guitar pick. 

RATT: The Atlantic Years’ Limited Edition Box Set is available for preorder now.

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Organizers of Virginia’s FloydFest recently revealed that plans for the fest were up in the air due to problems with their planned location. Well, now they’ve decided to cancel the festival altogether.

This year’s festival, dubbed FloydFest 23: Forever, was supposed to take place July 26-30 in Virginia, featuring The Black Crowes, My Morning Jacket, Sheryl Crow and Goose. Original plans called for it to happen at a new location, FestivalPark, but “final permitting and logistical factors” caused organizers to seek an alternative location, which apparently did not work out.

“To ensure that our beloved patrons receive the best FloydFest experience possible, and to protect the FloydFest vibe that means so much to so many, we have made the difficult decision to cancel FloydFest 2023, after a review and thorough vetting of multiple alternative options,” organizers share. “Make zero mistake — FloydFest is not going anywhere. We hope to see each of you, our FloydFest Family, in July 2024, as we christen your new home, FestivalPark.” 

Ticket holders have the option of holding on to their tickets for next year, or getting a full refund. Fans have until May 5 to decide which option they are choosing.

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On This Day, April 6, 2000…

An A-list group of artists paid tribute to Joni Mitchell at a concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.  

Artists who performed at the event included Elton John, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Shawn Colvin, James Taylor and more, with Mitchell also performing, backed by a full orchestra. The concert was filmed and later aired on the cable network TNT.

Mitchell quit touring in 2007 and spent several years off the stage, especially after she suffered a stroke in 2015. But that all changed in June 2022 when she performed alongside Brandi Carlile and a group of friends at the Newport Folk Festival.

And she’s set to take the stage again this June, where she and some of her musical friends will headline one night of Carlile’s Echoes Through the Canyon festival at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre.

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Diddy‘s 1997 number-one hit “I’ll Be Missing You” is based on the 1983 number-one hit “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, written by the band’s frontman, Sting.  On Wednesday, Diddy revealed just how much money Sting makes from the use of that sample.

After Diddy sampled “Every Breath You Take” without Sting’s permission, the rocker took legal action, earning a much higher percentage of the song’s royalties than he would have if Diddy had simply asked. As a result, the story goes, Sting makes $730,000 in royalties from the song each year — which works out to two grand per day.

Except it turns out he earns even more than that.

Responding to a tweet of an interview clip in which Sting confirms the $2000-per-day figure, Diddy offers a correction: “Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting!”

In the interview clip, Sting says he and Diddy are very good friends: In fact, he even joined Diddy and Faith Evans to perform the song — a tribute to the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. — on the 1997 MTV VMAs.

The person who ended up getting a raw deal was Police guitarist Andy Summers.  In addition to sampling the melody of “Every Breath You Take,” it also sampled Summers’ iconic guitar part for the song, but since he technically doesn’t have a songwriting credit, he didn’t get any money, and he’s still salty about it, having complained about it in several interviews.

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Thursday, April 6 marks another full moon, which means Peter Gabriel is once again treating us to another song off his upcoming album i/o, which is expected out sometime this year. The latest single is the Brightside Mix of the album’s title track, which features the Soweto Gospel Choir.

“This month the song is ‘i/o‘ and i/o means input / output. You see it on the back of a lot of electrical equipment and it just triggered some ideas about the stuff we put in and pull out of ourselves, in physical and non-physical ways,” Gabriel shares, noting it got him thinking about “the interconnectedness of everything.” 

“The older I get, I probably don’t get any smarter, but I have learned a few things and it makes a lot of sense to me that we are not these independent islands that we like to think we are, that we are part of a whole,” he says. “If we can see ourselves as better connected, still messed up individuals, but as part of a whole, then maybe there’s something to learn?”

Gabriel is set to hit the road in support of i/o next month, with his European and UK tour kicking off May 18 in Krakow, Poland. The tour hits North America starting September 8 in Quebec, Canada. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

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Rock fans saw a familiar face on this week’s episode of Fox’s The Masked Singer. Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider was revealed to be The Doll, donning a costume that included a purple sparkly dress and heels.  

“Let me tell you, Gene Simmons, Iggy Pop, no one can work pumps like I did,” Snider said after his unmasking, “and by the way ladies, it’s like riding a bike. I wore them in the ’70s and it all came back to me once I put it on.” 

He ended his appearance by treating the audience to an impromptu performance of the Twisted Sister classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Snider revealed he was pretty surprised to get the boot from the show, especially since he says Vegas had him as an odds on favorite to be in the top three. 

“Quite honestly I was shocked when they said my name,” he says. “I don’t know who the other performers are, but I heard them rehearsing and I wasn’t too impressed. And the audience response to me was huge. So I was like, what?!” 

He adds, “I thought I was gonna go all the way. You should have heard my [version of] ‘The Final Countdown.’ We were already rehearsing the next show. I crushed ‘The Final Countdown,’ but I never got to sing it.”

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Rod Stewart and wife Penny Lancaster have donated a white and gold teapot to raise money for a very good cause.

The pair shared on Instagram that they’ve signed their “favourite teapot” and donated it to Smile Train UK’s celebri-TEA auction, with money raised helping “children born with cleft around the world,” according to Smile Train.

As of Wednesday, the highest bid was over $850. The auction ends Sunday.

The auction is part of the organization’s #BigSmileTeaParty fundraiser, which asks folks to help raise money by either donating the cost of a cup of tea or hosting a tea party with family and friends. Rod notes the money “will change a child’s life forever.”

The tea pot auction is live now, but unfortunately items cannot be sent to the U.S. In addition to the teapot from Rod and Penny, there are teapots from the likes of Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Joanna Lumley and more.

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The members of Crazy Horse — Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot and Nils Lofgren — recently released the new album All Roads Lead Home. It features each band member contributing three original songs, which they recorded separately during the pandemic. But just because they weren’t physically together doesn’t mean they weren’t working together on the final product.

“It was kind of a long-distance collaboration, but a collaboration nonetheless,” Lofgren tells ABC Audio. “We listened to a lot of songs. I’d give them advice … and vice versa.”

He noted they “stayed in it with each other, but we worked in our own home environment and kind of carried it to an ending where we all picked our favorite three and came up with this great compilation.”

In addition to the three songs from each band member, Neil Young contributes the live bonus track “Song of the Seasons,” which originally appeared on the album Barn, also featuring Crazy Horse. Young also played a big role in the trio’s decision to change up their plans to make All Roads Lead Home a double album.

“Ralphie asked Neil to give us a bonus track and Neil said, ‘Yeah, I can do that. But instead of a double album, why don’t you pick your best songs, take my bonus track and do a great 10-song vinyl, just keep it lean and mean,’” Lofgren explains. “And that’s what we wound up doing.”

Considering the album came out during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lofgren thinks the title, which Talbot came up with, is beautiful. He adds of the record, “This was another labor of love, and music that allowed us to do something to actually share.” 

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