Former Mötley Crüe frontman John Corabi has opened up about the circumstances surrounding his departure from The Dead Daisies. He offered his side of the story in a new interview with Rock Show Critique, addressing the situation directly. The comments come after the band issued a statement saying Corabi had decided to leave. Former Dead Daisies vocalist Glenn Hughes subsequently announced his retirement, leaving the group without a singer.
Corabi explained that his exit was not rooted in the band’s renewed association with Hughes, as many fans assumed. Instead, he pointed to a series of decisions made by management that he felt contradicted earlier plans, including the timing of a new record release.
“You know what? Honestly, I don’t wanna get into a bunch of mudslinging, but at the end of the day, I was told, and my bass player were told, ’cause Michael [Devin, now-former The Dead Daisies bassist and current member of Corabi’s solo band] actually played with me in The Daisies as well, and we were told that we were taking a year off,” Corabi said. “We did record [a live album] last year, [at] the last show that we did, [which] was called ‘Live At Stonedead’.”
“And in the same conversation, the manager said, ‘We’re taking a year off,’ and he said, ‘Hey, we recorded the last show. We’re gonna create a link. We’re gonna put it on Spotify for all of our fans who weren’t there or couldn’t be there,’ a kind of a free thing to the fans,” he continued. “And I don’t know what changed. I couldn’t tell you what’s in his mind, the manager. But there were some issues that he did speak to my manager about.”
Corabi went on to describe how the timing of a new Dead Daisies release, which overlapped with the release of his own solo record, factored into his decision to leave the band.
“And then [my solo band and I] went over to Europe in February, and we got back from there. And it was weird — it was right around the time I put my record out for pre-sale. It was shortly after that I started noticing The Dead Daisies were asking me to collaborate on their presale. And I looked at Michael and I said, ‘Did you know about this record that they’re doing?’ And he goes, ‘What?’ He had no idea. I had no idea.”
He also directly addressed the widespread assumption that his exit was tied to Hughes rejoining the band’s live shows.
“Again, without going into details, a lot of people think that I left because [The Dead Daisies] were doing shows with [former The Dead Daisies vocalist] Glenn [Hughes again]. I could give a shit less about that, could care less. This was about the fact that for some reason, whatever it was, they said, ‘We’re taking a year off.’ They decided to put that link out that they were gonna give to everybody for free. They decided to make vinyl out of it.”
“And they decided to put the record out at the exact same time as mine. And my record came out April 24th, their record came out May 1st, and I just said, ‘You know what?’ Honestly, did I leave the band? I said, ‘Yes.’ … ‘Cause they kept moving the goalpost. So I wrote [The Dead Daisies founder/rhythm guitarist] David Lowy a letter and I said, ‘I don’t understand why you guys are doing this. You said this, you said this, this and this, and the complete opposite is happening, so I don’t do business this way. I’m out. Talk to you later. Bye.’ And that was it. Done. And whatever. They put out a press release that said that I was leaving. Whatever.”
Corabi indicated there was more to the situation than he was willing to share publicly.
“There’s so much more to this story, and I probably already said too much. My parents always said, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, say nothing at all.'”
Corabi’s account fills in a timeline that has been building for months. The surrounding developments help explain why the situation escalated the way it did.
Corabi’s latest split from The Dead Daisies came after a three-year run with the band. The breakup was officially confirmed in a statement from the group on July 14. He has consistently maintained that the breakup had nothing to do with Hughes returning for a one-off live performance, echoing the points he raised about mismanaged expectations and conflicting release schedules.
The plan for 2026 was originally built around giving The Dead Daisies a year off specifically so Corabi would have the time to record, release, and tour behind his solo album. That arrangement was meant to accommodate Corabi rather than compete with him, which makes the overlapping release dates he described all the more pointed.
Hughes’ own situation added another layer of complexity to the band’s lineup troubles. In August, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee announced his retirement from touring and live performances after being advised he needed another open-heart surgery. His final live appearance came on May 30 with The Dead Daisies, closing out a run with the band that included two studio albums.
With both Corabi and Hughes now out of the fold, The Dead Daisies face the challenge of finding a new vocalist. The band must also manage the fallout from a year that was originally intended to be a quiet one. Corabi’s solo career, in the meantime, continues to move forward following the April release of his album “New Day.”
