Mick Mars

At the age of three, Bob attended the fourth annual fair at Hyers Park in Huntington, where he saw his first concert. It was Skiter Bond, a country musician in a shiny orange suit and a huge white cowboy hat. It was this incident that influenced the appearance of the dream of becoming a musician. He received his first guitar as a present for Christmas at the age of seven. It was a Mickey Mouse toy guitar. Bob learned to tune her and began to pick up simple melodies on her. The first real guitar was Stella, which he bought at a thrift store for just twelve dollars.

After his family moved from Indiana to California , Bob Deal dropped out of school and played guitar in several hopeless bands for seventies. At this point, he and his first wife, Sharon, already had two children who needed to be provided. To make ends meet, I had to take on any work. From this moment in the life of the musician, a black line began: the wife left, taking the children with her, followed by financial problems and a short prison term for non-payment of alimony. After almost 10 years of dissatisfaction with the California music scene, Deal decided to start from scratch for himself, changing his stage name to Mick Mars and dyeing his hair coal black. By his own admission, he never loved his former name, since his initials were formed in the word bad - "bad". Hoping to find a band in 1981, he placed an ad in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler , describing himself as a “loud, rude, and aggressive guitarist.” Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee contacted him and, after hearing him play, immediately took him into the group, firing his previous guitarist at the request of Mick. When Vince Neil joined them, the group needed a name and Mars suggested “Mötley Crüe” - the name he came up with when he left Whitehorse.

Unlike many hard rock / heavy metal guitarists of the time, Mick Mars's playing style is immersed in the blues tradition. Both in the studio and on the stage, he tunes the guitar a tone lower to get a stronger and heavier sound.

During the time spent at Mötley Crüe, Mick Mars has built up a reputation for mystery.

Mars recorded the lead guitar for Hinder in the song “Take It to the Limit” from the album of the same name and the guitar solo in the song “Into the Light” by Papa Roach. In April 2010, it became known that Mick was working with the Murderdolls on their new album, Women & Children Last. He also took part in the recording of Crashdïet 's The Unattractive Revolution album in 2007. Then he participated in the recording of the single "Boss's Daughter" with the band Pop Evil in 2011.

Currently, Mick and his wife, the Swiss model Sereina Schonenberger (Mars), live in Nashville , Tennessee , where Mars is closely engaged in writing music and developing a solo project. In his own words, he feels great and is thinking about world tours. In 2018, he starred in an episode of the online series Ernie Ball: String Theory , where he talked about plans for the future, a solo album and an approach to creativity. ^[2]

On August 8, 2019, the British single Planet Rock premiered the single “These Old Boots” ^[3] from guitarist Phil Campbell’s first solo album. One of the musicians invited to create this song was Mars. An official video from the Hot Frog Animations studio was released for the single, in which all the participants in the recording were displayed as animated characters.

For most of his life, Mars suffers from ankylosing spondylitis , a chronic inflammatory form of arthritis that primarily occurs in the spine and pelvic bones. ^[4] The disease was diagnosed when he was 17 years old, and gradually more and more constrained his movements, causing severe pain.

Over the years, the disease completely covered his spine, which led to ankylosis of the intervertebral joints, limited mobility, and also to a sharp decrease in growth due to pressure.

During the upcoming collapse of Mötley Crüe, Mars exacerbated health problems, developed a dependence on potent painkillers, and began depression. He stopped playing the guitar, lost the ability to move freely and led a recumbent lifestyle. In serious condition, he was discovered by Nikki Sixx, worried about his disappearance and set off in search of him. In autumn 2004, Mars underwent a course of complete detoxification of the body and underwent an operation to replace a worn hip joint, followed by intensive physiotherapy and work with a psychotherapist. ^[5] Despite his precarious state of health, he went on a Carnival of Sins tour (2005) and a Route of All Evil Tour (2006) along with Aerosmith .