There are very few bands that get along and stick together, rain or shine. Mötley Crüe seems to be one of those bands that goes along with the highest bidder. In 1992, John Corabi was hired as lead singer to replace Vince Neil, who at the time was having drinking problems. He went on to record the self-titled Mötley Crüe album in 1994 and the EP Quaternary, but sales were not up to Mötley Crüe's standard. So by 1997, Corabi was out of the band and Neil returned.
In a recent interview with On The Road To Rock podcast, John Corabi was asked what he thought about Mick Mars getting outed from the band and being replaced by John 5: "None of this stuff, all the shit that's going on between Mick and them, none of it surprises me. It doesn't. And John's got big shoes to fill, and he's kind of stuck in this.
"And trust me, I get it, 'cause I was stuck in this shitty place as well between Mötley Crüe and whoever was being replaced fans. You know what I mean? I had to deal with the fans that were massive Vince Neil fans, and I get it. And it was awkward at times to sit and listen to the guys do interviews where they went out of their way to slag Vince. I didn't even know the guy, so I had nothing shitty to say about him. But it is what it is, man."
"I don't envy John 5 at all at this point, you know what I mean? He's kind of in a weird position, 'cause I know he adores Mick, and he's friends with all the Mötley guys, so he's kind of in a weird position. They offered him a great gig, and he's doing it. So trust me, I can relate."
Corabi also expressed his opinion about the lawsuit Mick filed against Mötley Crüe back on April of this year: "When we were doing the Generation Swine record, there was a rub between me and Mick, which transpired during… They had already told me that they were bringing Vince back, and their manager said to me, 'Can you help them finish the record?' And I said, 'Yes.' And every day they would call me at nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and it was Nikki, this guy Scott Humphrey and Tommy, and they would call me every day, and they would go, 'Hey, can you come by the studio and play some guitar?' And I said, 'Well, as long as Mick is cool with it, sure.'
"Well, every day I'd get to the studio and they just complained, like, 'Oh my God, we had Mick here yesterday 'till two o'clock in the morning and we couldn't get anything out of him, and blah blah blah. So, that was in '95. And then they did the record. Now, I can tell you right now most of the rhythms on that record were mine. And if Mick was sitting here, he'd go, 'Yeah, most of the guitars were his.' So I played on the Generation Swine record.
"I don't know if Mick played on New Tattoo, I'm not sure, but I know it was DJ Ashba on Red, White & Crüe, on the new songs, and I know on Saints of Los Angeles, it was DJ Ashba. And then I know on the movie The Dirt, the new songs that they did for the accompanying soundtrack, 'Like A Virgin' and all that shit, it's John 5. So they haven't had Mick,… they haven't been using him since, fuck, '95."
As per John 5, he has nothing but love for him: "I love John. He's great. I have nothing but mad respect for John because I've known him for a gazillion years. My manager used to manage him, so I've known about him forever. And he is an insanely talented guitar player."
