Mick Mars...

"Happy 60th Birthday"

Mick Mars...

Career...

After his family relocated from Indiana, to California, Robert Deal dropped out of high school and began playing guitar in a series of unsuccessful blues based rock bands throughout the seventies, taking on menial day jobs to make ends meet. After nearly a decade of frustration with the California music scene, Deal reinvented himself, changing his stage name to Mick Mars and dyeing his hair jet black, hoping for a fresh start. In April 1981 he put a want ad in the Los Angeles The Recycler newspaper, describing himself as "a loud, rude, and aggressive guitar player". Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee contacted him and after hearing him play decided he would be their guitarist. Upon Tommy's prodding, they persuaded a former high school friend of Tommy's and local rock and roll singer/frontman Vince Neil to join. It was Mick's suggestion that the band be called Mötley Crüe, a name that had stuck in his head from his days as a member of a band called White Horse. The bassist walked into the room and called them "...a motley-looking crew."

He employs frequent use of a metal slide in his soloing and takes on both the rhythm and lead guitar duties of the band. In the studio and live, Mars frequently tunes his guitar down a whole step to get a stronger and crunchier rhythm sound. The altered tuning also increases string slack to enable his characteristic hammer-on trills, pitch bending, and pinch harmonics during soloing. Mars also introduced the pedal steel guitar to many of Mötley Crüe's later recordings and live sets. Mars has taken a critical role in songwriting for the band, coming up with many of Mötley Crüe's best known riffs.

For the sum of his career with Mötley Crüe, Mars has created the aura of being a somewhat mysterious figure, letting the other members of the band speak for him in public and in print, despite being the eldest and most articulate[citation needed] member of the band. In what public interviews he has conducted, Mars often comes off as a very reserved and somewhat quiet individual, though not shy by any means. A home video made in 1984 and posted publicly on the web by one of his former White Horse bandmates reveals Mars to be a rather jovial, wisecracking, down-to-Earth person.

After an eventual split of Mötley Crüe in 2001, Mars dealt with worsening health problems and depression, he reportedly gave up guitar playing. Mars' situation improved with the reformation of Mötley Crüe, kindling the desire to play again. Mars underwent hip replacement surgery in the autumn of 2004, followed with intensive physical therapy. Despite his precarious health condition, he was able to perform in the Carnival of Sins tour in 2005 and the Route of All Evil Tour with Aerosmith in 2006.

Mars has recently contributed his songwriting skills to John LeCompt, the former member of Evanescence and the other band members of Machina, and to the Swedish band CRASHDÏET. Their second album entitled, The Unattractive Revolution, was released on October 3, 2007 and featured two songs co-written by Mars.

Mars played lead guitar on the title track of Hinder's 2008 album Take It to the Limit, and contributed a guitar solo to the song "Into the Light" by Papa Roach, on their 2009 album Metamorphosis. Mars also contributed a guitar solo to the song "The Question" on Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana's U.S. debut album Inside Out. In 2010 he co-wrote a song with Escape the Fate for their self-titled album which was instead withheld from the album and reserved for a later release.

He has recently been photographed, on his MySpace and Facebook, with the Murderdolls as he will contribute to their upcoming album Women & Children Last whilst recording material for his debut solo album in the same space. Mick Mars has also contributed to the Black Veil Brides album Set the World on Fire.

Family...

Mars is the second of five children of Tina and Frank Deal, and is the older brother of Susie Deal. With his first wife, Sharon, he has two children, Les Paul (1971) and Stormy (1973). He also has one child (estranged), Erik (1976), with a former girlfriend, Marcia. Mars was married to Emi Canyn, who was a Mötley Crüe back-up singer in the "Girls, Girls, Girls" (1987) and "Nasty Habits" tours (1990–1994).

Trivia & Facts...

Birth Name

Robert Alan Deal 

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m) 

Trade Mark

Top hat with a skull on it

Trivia

Guitarist for the heavy metal band Motley Crue.

Mick Mars has two children with ex-wife Sharon. Les Paul Deal (son) and Stormy Deal (daughter) are grown up now and Stormy has made Mars a grandfather three times over before he hit forty.

At 19, Mars was diagnosed with ankylosing spondilytus, a degenerative bone disease which causes the spine to stiffen in between the vertibrae. As a result, Mars quotes he is three inches shorter than he was in high school.

Attended grade school with actor Steve Martin.

Children: Les Paul Deal, born 1971 and Stormy Deal, born September 4 1973. Les was named after the Les Paul guitars and Stormy was named for the song "Stormy" by the Classics IV.

Motley Crue was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Where Are They Now...

(April 2002) Mötley Crüe guitarist, Mick Mars goes into the studio with band mates Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil to record a new Mötley Crüe album. 

2012 Motley Crue announces world wide tour with KISS.

-Imdb.com