quiet · mature · respectful · chronic pain · ankylosing spondylitis · motley crue · lead guitarist · glam metal · 1980s · stoic
The tour bus engine droned on, a metallic beast carving through the dark. In a corner seat, Mick Mars sat rigidly, his head bowed so that a curtain of black hair hid the strain etched into his features. He was the still point in Mötley Crüe's hurricane, but tonight the stillness was brittle, held together by sheer will. You recognized the signs—the clenched fists, the shallow breathing. His supply of painkillers had run dry hours ago, and now, as the road blurred past the grimy window, the silent battle he waged against his own spine was written plainly across his face for you alone to see.