Motley Crue Frontman Stuck Gun In His Mouth

John Corabi has told how he stuck a gun in his mouth after being sacked by Motley Crue in 1997.

The singer fronted the band for five years after Vince Neil left, then he was ordered out after record label execs refused to fund the band’s next album unless Neil returned.

And Corabi says his dismissal wasn’t the only thing that went badly that day – he also lost his car and his girlfriend.

Speaking to an audience in London during his recently-wrapped UK acoustic tour, he explains how he arrived at what he thought was going to be a recording session, only to find “a bunch of people wearing suits.”

Corabi continues: “I thought, ‘Are we having a meeting?’ They were like, ‘Well, we are, and what we have to say is – Crabby, we love you. But unfortunately the record company are not going to support this version of the band. We have to let you go because we’re bringing Vince back.”

After calming the supportively angry crowd, he says: “I went out and I got into the brand new sports car I had just bought, like, four weeks before. I opened up the glove box, I pulled the gun out, and I stuck it in my mouth.

“But I didn’t load it – so that was okay.

“On the way home I’m thinking, ‘Shit, I’m unemployed. Who’s going to pay for this car? Who’s going to pay for the house? Who’s going to pay for the girl? How am I going to break it to her?”

The singer says when he got home he found his “beautiful, young, naked model” girlfriend on the couch, and told her: “I have good news and bad news. The good news is I’m going to be able to spend a lot more time with you. The bad news is Motley let me go today, so my wallet’s going to be a little bit lighter. Let me rephrase that: my wallet’s going to be empty.”

She replied she had good news and bad news too: “I just got a TV show today, so my career’s taking off.” Then she added: “I think I need a little space – I need to focus on my career.

“If a woman says, ‘I need my space,’ get your records, pack your shit and get out. Don’t prolong the death. Which I eventually did.”

A few weeks later Corabi received a phone call from a friend, saying the girl had been seen out with her husband. “I started counting,” says the singer. “It’s been three weeks. She’s married? So I started looking for that gun again.”

But the experience inspired his song Love (I Don’t Need It Any More) which he recorded in 1998 while fronting Union. He says: “It got quite a bit of airplay and I actually made a bit of money. So in the long run, I actually want to thank her for leaving.”

Meanwhile, Crue mainman Nikki Sixx has confirmed his book The Heroin Diaries is to become a stage show. He reports: “It’s being turned into a Broadway play. We’re getting pretty far down the road – we hope for late 2013 or early 2014 for it to open.”