The band responded to Mars' decision to retire in a statement shared with ET Thursday.
Mötley Crüe guitarist, and founding member of the band, Mick Mars is retiring from the group due to "challenges with his health."
In a statement shared with ET Thursday, remaining band members, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil said they accept Mick's decision to retire and will carry out his wish to finish the band's world tour with friend and fellow musician, John 5, stepping in on guitar.
"While change is never easy, we accept Mick's decision to retire from the band due to the challenges with his health. We have watched Mick manage his Ankylosing Spondylitis for decades and he has always managed it with utmost courage and grace," the band said of Mick's health condition -- a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine.
"To say 'enough is enough' is the ultimate act of courage. Mick's sound helped define Mötley Crüe from the minute he plugged in his guitar at our very first rehearsal together," the statement continued. "The rest, as they say, is history. We'll continue to honor his musical legacy."
The group is planning to continue the next leg of their co-headlining world tour with Def Leppard in 2023, starting with their first show in Mexico City Feb. 18.
"We will carry out Mick's wish and continue to tour the world as planned in 2023," the band added, before sharing that Marilyn Manson guitarist, John 5, will be taking over the 71-year-old guitar legend's role. "No doubt will it take an absolutely outstanding musician to fill Mick's shoes, so we are grateful that our good friend, John 5 has agreed to come on board and join us moving forward. We'll see all you Crüeheads out on the road!"
John 5 also shared his sentiment about joining the group, adding, "I'm honored to carry on Mick's legacy and am looking forward to playing these songs."
The band's statement comes after a rep for Mick announced his retirement to Variety. The longtime guitarist's rep noted that while Mick will no longer tour with the band, he will continue on as a member of the Crüe.
"Mick Mars, co-founder and lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe for the past 41 years, has announced today that due to his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.), he will no longer be able to tour with the band," the statement read. "Mick will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road."
Mick, whose real name is Robert Deal, has struggled with A.S. since his late teens, with the condition worsening over the years. By the early 2000s, he had lost a large amount of weight and became addicted to painkillers. However, he later had successful hip surgery and was able to tour extensively with the group, including in their most recent North American tour, which just wrapped.
ET spoke to Tommy and Nikki just last month about the band's return to the road after taking a break to pursue other projects.
"I remember getting the phone call from management, and I was like. 'No,'" Nikki said of being asked to tour again. "And they go, 'You haven’t even heard what I have to say.'"
"We were done. We were done," Tommy said.
"And we were friends, and we were fine and everything’s good," Nikki agreed. "We're just like, 'No, it’s a lot of work.' When you see the show out there, you're gonna go, 'Wow.' I mean, it's years of work putting it together, and then they were like, 'No, not eight arenas, eight stadiums,' and I was like, 'Let me call Tommy.'"
He continued, "I was like, 'Hey, dude, they’re talking about us touring,' and he's like, 'No.' Because we wanted to be -- stand by what we said, and then it was 16 and 36, which we just entered our 36th stadium, and there’s, what, another 120 next year and the year after that, so, we're grateful we said yes."
"We're having a blast," Nikki added.
See more on the rock band in the video below.
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