Mick Mars Says Illness Won’t Stop Him From Touring With Motley Crue

Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis, an inflammatory condition that mainly affects the joints of the spine, making life increasingly difficult and incredibly painful for the person afflicted with it. While the disease might sideline most musicians, Mars plays through the pain, deeming the condition more of an inconvenience than anything. It won't stop him from hitting the road!

"I am able to keep touring," Mars told Classic Rock Revisited in a recent chat. "It is one of those things that I call an inconvenience. Of course I have days that are worse than others and there is always some amount of pain with my hips. There are good days and bad days but it is more of an inconvenience than anything else. I don’t feel sick."

Mars actually offered some advice to those out there who might be diagnosed with AS. He suggests seeking out second opinions, since he is living, guitar-playing proof that the condition is not a death sentence that fully limits activity. He said, "There are a lot of people that go around that suffer from this type of thing and they go to their doctor and he tells them that they will be in a wheelchair. My advice to them is to go to another doctor because he is wrong."

Despite the physical ailments that go along with the disease, Mars does accentuate one of the unusual positives. It means his axe is always in his line of sight. He explains, There are some things about this thing that I’ve got that are not so cool, but there is one thing that is cool – I ended up bent. I can always see my guitar. If I’d been straight then I would not be able to see myself play."

That's what we call making a tall, cool, refreshing glass of lemonade out of one life's most sour lemons!

Mars also spoke about the band's much buzzed about residency in Las Vegas, saying that it could very well be a one-off. "I don’t know if we are planning on doing more of this type of thing or not," he admitted. "We are going to have to check it out and see. For me, personally, I like to jump on the bus every night and go around and see the whole world but we will have to see how this works out."

The guitarist also said the band would like to do another Crue Fest. Nodding to the current state of bedlam and chaos in the music business, Mars thinks that putting together live packages that are worth the price of admission is the best avenue to pursue. "The future will have to see bands put together really cool packages that will be worth it for people to go see," he said. "

As for new Crue? Be patient, because it's in the works. "As far as new music goes, I can tell you that I am writing a bunch of new material. Nikki [Sixx] is writing a lot as well. I am hoping that we will have a new record out by 2013," he said.

It was all good news from Mick Mars in this chat!