Photo: getty
He's suffered from this illness since he was 17.
By Samantha Maffucci — Written on Mar 28, 2019
On March 22nd, Netflix released The Dirt, a biopic film of Mötley Crüe. Though there had been ongoing talks since 2006 to turn the band’s collaborative biography, The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band, into a film, Netflix eventually purchased the rights in 2017, and filming began in 2018.
The film stars Douglas Booth as Nikki Sixx, Iwan Rheon as Mick Mars, Machine Gun Kelly as Tommy Lee, and Daniel Webber as Vince Neil.
Though the film follows the lives of these four members, including how they formed the band, and their separation and reconciliation, it also touched on Mick Mars and his illness. What disease does Mick Mars have?
Mars, born Robert Alan Deal, has suffered with ankylosing spondylitis since he was 17 years old.
What is ankylosing spondylitis? According to the Mayo Clinic, “Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that, over time, can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. If ribs are affected, it can be difficult to breathe deeply.”
Some of the symptoms include pain and stiffness in the lower back and hips, neck pain, and fatigue. The areas most commonly affected are the lower back vertebrae, hip and shoulder joints, cartilage between the ribs and breastbone, and where tendons and ligaments attach to the bone.
Over the years, ankylosing spondylitis has impaired Mars’ movement and caused him pain. His lower spine has also frozen completely solid and seized up, “causing scoliosis in [his] back and squashing [him] further down and forward until [he] was a full three inches (7.6 cm) shorter than [he] was in high school,” their collaborative biography said. In 2004, he had hip replacement surgery.
While many with this degenerative disease find it affects their quality of life, Mars makes the best of his situation and plays through his pain.
According to him, “The thing is, as always, that I am able to keep touring. It is one of those things that I call an inconvenience. Of course, I have days that are worse than others and there is always some amount of pain with my hips. There are good days and bad days, but it is more of an inconvenience than anything else. I don’t feel sick.
There are a lot of people that go around that suffer from this type of thing, and they go to their doctor and he tells them that they will be in a wheelchair. My advice to them is to go to another doctor because he is wrong. There are some things about this thing that I’ve got that are not so cool, but there is one thing that is cool — I ended up bent. I can always see my guitar. If I’d been straight then I would not be able to see myself play.”
It's good to know Mars has made the best of his situation and hasn't let it stopped him from playing music.
Samantha Maffucci is an editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.