Carmine Appice Reacts to Mick Mars’ Lawsuit Against Mötley Crüe: “It Kind of Vindicated Me”
Back in March, a war of words sparked out of control between drummer Carmine Appice and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx. At the time, Appice said in an interview that he’d heard from ousted Crüe guitarist Mick Mars that backing tracks were used. Sixx took offense, called Appice a “washed up drummer” and it was off to the races, with the men challenging each other to a “jam off” and throwing barbs at one another.
Then Mars himself did the thing and filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, in which he said in no uncertain terms that the band had extensively used backing tracks. It was a moment that anyone paying attention to the ongoing spat could see as a potential validation of Appice’s claims.
During a recent interview on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Appice weighed in on the legal proceedings between Mars and Mötley Crüe, claiming it perfectly proved his point.
“Everything that I said, Mick pretty much backed it up with his lawsuit. I was just doing an interview, like we’re talking. And when I do interviews, I’m pretty candid. Mick told me that stuff, and I didn’t mean it to go out of proportion like that.
“The thing for me is I knew Nikki since they opened up for Ozzy [Osbourne]. And when they opened up for Ozzy, I’m like the kind of guy, when I’m on a headlining tour, I befriend the opening act. Like Led Zeppelin with Vanilla Fudge, I befriended John Bonham and all the guys. Same thing here. I was friends with these guys. Nikki used to live around the corner from me in L.A. We used to go out for breakfast at this ’50s café, and we were friends.
“Even their title ‘Raise Your Hands To Rock’ on that [third] album [‘Theatre Of Pain’], that was my title. I told him we were working on a song, ‘Raise Your Hands To Rock’, with King Cobra. And he said, ‘Oh, man. I love that title. Do you mind if I steal it?’ I go, ‘Oh, come on, dude.’ So he gave me credit: ‘Thank you’ for the initials, ‘Raise Your Hands To Rock’. And we were friends.
“So to hear him talk about me like that, it kind of pissed me off. But it is what it is. And I read all these things about other musicians talking about him.
“I said, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize everyone had hatred for this guy.’ I haven’t seen him or talked to him in years. Same with Tommy [Lee]. Tommy and I used to hang out when he married to Heather [Locklear] and Pam [Anderson]… And I haven’t seen him for ages.”
After a little more back and forth between the two, Appice said he eventually received a threatening cease-and-desist letter from the band’s legal team. Still, when details of Mars’ lawsuit came out, the drummer said he felt “vindicated.”
“That’s why I stopped talking about it. But then when Mick said all that stuff, it kind of vindicated me, because he said everything that I said. Because that’s what he told me.”
Mars’ lawsuit is still ongoing and along with the his claims that the band used a backing track, he also claimed that his former bandmates forced him to retire before taking his 25% of tour revenues. He’s seeking damages, as well as documents proving their financial situation as a band so he can get a better understanding of where the money’s coming from.
