Mick Mars: Mötley Crüe 'Trying to Take My Legacy Away' After Band Would 'Get High and F--- Everything Up' in Heyday

"I'm not going to let them," the legendary guitarist said of his bandmates in a new interview with 'Rolling Stone'

Mick Mars is fed up.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Mötley Crüe guitarist and founding member opened up about what he claims is his involuntary exit from the legendary heavy metal band last year.

"When they wanted to get high and f--- everything up, I covered for them," Mars said of his former bandmates. "Now they're trying to take my legacy away, my part of Mötley Crüe, my ownership of the name, the brand."

The legendary rocker continued, "How can you fire Mr. Heinz from Heinz ketchup? He owns it. Frank Sinatra's or Jimi Hendrix's legacy goes on forever, and their heirs continue to profit from it. They're trying to take that away from me. I'm not going to let them."

Related: Mötley Crüe's Mick Mars Sues Band After Tour Exit Due to Health, Says They Attempted to Fire Him

Mars, 72, has been locked in a legal battle with the other Crüe members — Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee — since April, when he filed a lawsuit against the band and their touring companies for trying to remove him from the group.

The lead guitar player wants to ensure that he continues to maintain a share in Mötley Crüe following his decision to stop touring last fall due to a "horrifically debilitating" health condition, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Mars suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a spinal disease that has caused him severe pain since his teenage years, he told Rolling Stone. The disease, which he was diagnosed with at 27, "rarely goes into your hands or feet," he said.

As a result, the Crüe co-founder said that he "could play guitar, and that's what mattered most" but by the time the metal band's summer 2022 tour came around, Mars had a permanent hunch, limited mobility of his head and was in excruciating, near-constant pain. He completed all 36 shows, but told his bandmates that it was his last go-around — but not that he wanted out of the band altogether.

In a statement to the press last October, Neil, Lee, and Sixx wrote: "While change is never easy, we accept Mick's decision to retire from the band due to the challenges with his health. We will carry out Mick’s wish and continue to tour the world as planned in 2023."

Then, in his court filings, Mars alleged that the band had used his inability to tour as an excuse to oust him after over 40 years in the band he co-founded.

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Sixx, 64, got much media attention following Mars' April filing, which also claimed that Sixx did not play "a single note on bass during the entire U.S. tour" last summer. The allegation was met with statements from seven crew members who not only pushed back against the claim but also alleged that Mars often forgot or could not perform songs, according to Rolling Stone.

"We're sitting there, coming back from retirement, and our guitar player can't remember songs," bassist Sixx told the magazine. "We were there watching him physically fall apart, mentally fall apart, his memory fell apart. We really were, with kid gloves, always trying to support Mick. We've always stood by his side. But we couldn't let his side of the stage just be a train wreck."

Sixx also told Rolling Stone that he and the other members of Mötley Crüe "love the f---in’ guy," and that Mars is only "saying these things because he's trying to hurt us." The bassist added that Mars — not his estranged bandmates — is destroying his reputation: "What's the point? He's destroying his own legacy."

Related: Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil Sets the Record Straight in New Documentary: People 'Think They Know Me'

When asked what advice Mars would give his younger self as the Crüe — and the future "legacy" he is now fighting to protect — was just forming, the guitarist told Rolling Stone: "Be a little more aggressive. Stay out of neutral. Be a voice for yourself. I don't like conflict, but if I could go back, I'd be more involved."

As for his decision to become involved with the band in the first place? Mars said he doesn't regret it.

"We were different when we came out of the Sunset Strip," he said. "The rough spots were rough spots, and hard to deal with, but I got to see the world and play with a group that was this successful. So I don't regret anything … besides [his least favorite Mötley Crüe album] Generation Swine."

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