Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a rare form of arthritis where the bones in the spine are fused together, causing chronic pain and immobility.
When asked about his condition, he said:
“I ended up bent, I can always see my guitar.”
On how he manages to be a silent, mysterious member of Crue, he said:
“I don’t believe in my own hype. I don’t need to have a tremendously huge ego and I don’t need to thumb my nose at people. That, to me, is total bullsh*t. I am a guy who loves to write and play music, and that is what I have been doing.”
Back in 2008, he said: “I kept getting worse and worse, and I just stopped playing guitar for almost two years. Nowadays, it’s not so bad, but back then when I was high on all that stuff and Motley were having a break, I knew if I didn’t stop I was gonna die. In the end, I had to go to a neuro-psychiatrist to straighten me up and he said to me, ‘Just hold the guitar for an hour a day – don’t play it, just hold it.’ It was pretty bizarre but I got through it, and in the end I think I’m actually a better player because of it.”