MÖTLEY CRÜE – Enter The Studio With Bob Rock, Scott Stapp Rumored To Be ‘Ghost Vocalist’

Believe it or not, MÖTLEY CRÜE appears to have officially entered the studio with longtime producer Bob Rock to record a few songs they have written with new guitarist John 5. It has been fifteen years since the Crue last released a full-length studio album with 2008’s “Saints of Los Angeles”. This album will apparently not contain any contributions from Mick Mars.

Mars just filed a lawsuit against his former band, kicking off an all-out war of words between Mars and Nikki Sixx.

Late Monday night (April 17), the CRÜE‘s John 5 posted a photo of him cutting tracks in a recording studio. He also shared a picture of Rock in front of a mixing board. The accompanying caption read: “Let’s do this @motleycrue #bobrock”. The Crue is in the midst of the worst controversy of their career, not just due to the shocking Mars lawsuit but also the downward spiral of lead vocalist Vince Neil, who is having to rely on doing lip-sync because his voice is so out of shape.

TMD reported last February that Bob Rock was rumored to be at the helm of the Crue’s new album. This has now been confirmed with this post by John 5.

Source notes that “[Nikki] Sixx and company have indeed begun to secretly plan a major announcement for fans in time with the official launch of their comeback… this is why the wheels are being put into motion now in advance.”

MÖTLEY CRÜE’s New Album To Be Named ‘Return Of The Saints’?

Mick Mars also claims that Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee are both faking it live on the stage and that Sixx did not play one note live at any of the glam metal band’s comeback concerts launched last year.

No word yet if DJ Ashba and other past “Saints” album contributors like Marti Frederiksen will be part of the tentatively titled “Return of The Saints” production. There is even a soft whisper going around that possibly ex-CREED singer Scott Stapp will be part of the production. He will not be replacing Vince Neil on tour but just in the studio. The idea is that Stapp employed for sessions secretly as a ‘ghost vocalist’ can help Neil get to a higher level by handling some of the more difficult parts Mr. Neil cannot sing properly. With the magic of modern audio engineering and tricks that can be used it can be made to mimic Neil’s old voice when it still worked. Bringing in a secret singer happens all the time in the music biz.

TMD’s report from last year included the following excerpt:

“Producer Bob Rock is rumored to be helming (what could very well be ) the band’s final production, per a source within Crue’s camp. Rock of course having worked on the band’s classic 1989 Dr. Feelgood album plus most recently in 2019 on the soundtrack for the Netflix film titled THE DIRT. Beyond the title track, The film’s soundtrack would feature three new recordings, all produced with longtime collaborator Rock: “Ride with the Devil”, “Crash and Burn”, and a cover of the Madonna song “Like a Virgin” Rock is easily the best man for the difficult job.”

When pop music recording star Ashanti was asked in 2002 if she was the “ghost voice” of J.Lo, she cackled for a good second before diplomatically saying, “I [demoed] the record for her, which is done a lot in the music industry, and they left my background vocals on there.”

These demo tracks that the Crue are initially cutting are just a way for them to get their feet wet after having been so musically off the radar for so many years.

The Milli-Vanilli like move will be done to try and salvage Neil’s declining vocals that will need to have major effects and help from Stapp to make it sound good.

Marti Frederiksen not only worked on past Crue albums but he also worked on Neil’s solo album “Tattoos and Tequilla” plus Marti co produced the latest Scott Stapp solo album.