Speaker 1: Motley Crue is one of the most popular metal bands of all time. Their 2022 stadium tour earned a record-breaking $173.4 million, the best-selling tour of the band's 40-plus year career. However, the band is in the middle of a major scandal. Their guitarist Mick Mars has sued them and claimed under oath that Motley Crue uses pre-recorded tracks during concerts, essentially faking their playing. The use of pre-recorded tracks is a cardinal sin for rock and metal fans, and this scandal has led to some major backlash towards Motley Crue. But instead of folding to the pressure, they are benefiting from the publicity for their upcoming world tour, where the band sells tickets for up to $2,500. And it's working. So this begs the question, is Motley Crue actually using pre-recorded tracks? Well, it's complicated. Several fan-filmed videos of the band have circulated in recent years, where the sound coming out of the speakers doesn't match up with the actual performance. One recent high-profile incident occurred on July 19th, 2022, at the Kansas City date of Motley Crue's stadium tour. In the video, you can hear the sound of a cymbal despite the fact that drummer Tommy Lee hasn't made it to his drum set. In other words, the drums are heard playing while no one is there to play them. It is unclear how much of Lee's drumming is performed live, and what parts are mimed during shows. Fans have engaged in heated debates in the comment section, with some proclaiming that almost all of Lee's drumming is fake, while others argue that only a few key triggers are used to keep time with all the fireworks and other on-stage spectacles that Motley Crue is famous for. Mars would reference this exact video on page 10 of his lawsuit, and it's a bit of a shame that Lee's drumming isn't included in the video. Mars would reference this exact video on page 10 of his lawsuit, where he would then go on to claim under penalty of perjury that a significant portion of singer Vince Neil's vocals were also pre-recorded. But if that were true, then why does Vince Neil sound so awful on stage? For decades, Neil has been harshly criticized for his inability to sing like he used to. The once-legendary front man can often be heard struggling for breath, singing out of tune, or relying on the audience to sing for him. Some of his detractors, like pro-wrestler turned rock singer Chris Jericho, have pointed at Neil's poor physical shape as the reason for his declining singing abilities, suggesting that his vocals would improve if he just lost some weight and did some training. As more and more videos of Neil's embarrassing vocal performances made the rounds on YouTube, Motley Crue's manager Alan Kovac would even have to step in to address the criticisms, assuring fans that the band members had been working with personal trainers and nutritionists ahead of the stadium tour in order to put on the best performances possible. Still, as recently as 2023, Crue fans have continued to criticize the band for only becoming more blatant in their use of lip syncing. This footage from a recent concert in Peru makes it glaringly obvious that Vince Neil is heavily relying on pre-recorded tracks. However, no one bore the brunt of Mick's anger more than bassist Nikki Sixx. Mars accused Sixx of attempting to psychologically manipulate him into believing he had some sort of cognitive dysfunction, and that his guitar playing was no longer good enough for Motley Crue, often getting frustrated with Mars for supposedly forgetting chords or playing the wrong songs. The guitarist, who is a 25% shareholder in Motley Crue's corporate entity, claims that this was all part of the band's attempt to make a comeback. claims that this was all part of an elaborate plot concocted by Sixx in order to force him out of the band and take his shares. When his debilitating health issues eventually forced Mars to retire from touring in 2022, it is alleged that Motley Crue made him a quote take-it-or-leave-it offer for a severance agreement that would divest him of 20% of his ownership stake in the band. Mars says it was Nikki Sixx who told him that, after 41 consecutive years with the band, he was lucky to keep even 5% ownership, and did not deserve anything more going forward. Mars went on to blast Sixx in legal documents for faking his performances, stating that 100% of Sixx's bass parts were nothing but recordings. Sixx was seen fist-pumping in the air with his strumming hand while the bass part was playing, an incident that was captured on video. However, this would not be the first time that Sixx had been confronted over his use of backing tracks in his career, with Sixx often using extremely vague language to evade the accusations. One such occasion occurred in 1997, when Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich denounced Motley Crue for performing to a tape at the American Music Awards that year, which by all accounts, they did. Although it is now widely accepted that televised musical performances have to be faked due to time constraints, Sixx still took offense to Ulrich's accusations and posted an open letter to the Metallica drummer on an AOL message board, which read, You're such a poser. Despite Nicky's rage towards Ulrich's accusations, he notably did not deny the use of backing tracks within his response. Sixx was similarly evasive in 2023, when legendary drummer Carmine Apice revealed to Ultimate Guitar that Mars confided in him about how he was having a bad time on the stadium tour, due in large part to the fact that everything was pre-recorded instead of live. Nicky Sixx would fire back on Twitter, but instead of addressing the allegations that Motley Crue was lip-syncing, he chose to hurl insults at Apice, calling him a washed-up drummer. It is worth noting, however, that Sixx did acknowledge Motley Crue's use of backing tracks on one occasion in 2019, though he only admitted to using it for instruments that the band doesn't tour with, such as cellos or synthesizers. To date, the only member of Motley Crue to directly address the core band member's use of backing tracks was, unsurprisingly, Mick Mars. While discussing the creation of his solo album during a 2014 interview with Eddie Trunk, Mars casually mentioned that he was a terrible singer, unintentionally provoking a series of loaded questions from Trunk.

Speaker 2: Dude, my voice sucks so bad.

Speaker 3: Well, they put a microphone in front of you on stage with Motley. I don't know if it's on or not, but there's one up there.

Speaker 2: Well, you know, that's another, that's a whole nother story right there, son.

Speaker 3: What story? Tell me that story. What is it?

Speaker 2: That story? I don't know. That could get me in a lot of trouble.

Speaker 1: Mars was noticeably on edge, tripping over his words and attempting to move away from the subject. However, as the conversation continued, Mars candidly spoke on his band's use of backing tracks, saying that he didn't like it, and that he believed that a band like Motley Crew benefits from the rawness of a live performance where mistakes can be made in front of an audience. So assuming Motley Crew are in fact faking their performances, why hasn't there been more backlash from fans? Well, fans can be extremely forgiving to an artist that they love, and historically, have proven to be unbothered about lip syncing. For example, despite the general belief that R&B duo Milli Vanilli had their careers immediately ruined following a July 1989 incident where their backing track failed during a live performance, in reality, their core audience didn't seem to care. In fact, Milli Vanilli went on to become a global sensation, reportedly grossing over $50 million and even being awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist, even as the lip syncing allegations continued. The value these accusations bring Motley Crew, who are getting millions of impressions on metal news websites and YouTubers making countless videos calling them out, are all free advertising for the band, keeping the band at the forefront of the music news cycle even with the negative connotations is generally good for them. However, if Motley Crew's upcoming tour dates are going to be entirely faked, then the group is not living up to its core values that brought them together in the first place. In the band's first ever press release from June 22nd, 1981, Motley Crew highlighted their mission to quote, provide an outstanding live show which excites, stimulates, and moves the audience. Despite their tarnished reputation, Motley Crew concerts continue to sell out, and the success of rock and metal as a whole is reliant on legacy bands now more than ever. It's not unusual for the best-selling metal albums any given year to be 30-plus-year-old records rather than new releases, and rock festivals in particular routinely book the same handful of legacy bands for their headlining slots, often recycling headliners year after year. Many critics say that this unending focus on nostalgia is holding the genre back, but in a post-2020 world where the cost of touring is at an all-time high, promoters can't afford to take any chances. Motley Crew is still entitled to their day in court, and will presumably one day have the opportunity to tell their side of the story. For the time being, it is up to fans to voice their opinions by voting with their wallets, and Motley Crew has only grown to become more lucrative than they've ever been.