Former Mötley Crüe frontman John Corabi recently explained how broken promises and album timing led to his departure from The Dead Daisies, addressing the situation in an interview with Rock Show Critique.
Corabi discussed the events leading up to his exit, explaining that he and bassist Michael Devin were initially told the band was taking a year off.
“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.'”
He went on to explain how plans for the live recording changed without his knowledge.
“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,” Corabi 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 then recalled discovering that The Dead Daisies were preparing a release that conflicted with his own solo plans.
“And then [my solo band and I] went over to Europe in February, and we got back from there,” Corabi said. “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 clarified that his departure was not due to the band working with Glenn Hughes, but rather because of how the release was handled.
“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],” Corabi explained. “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.”
Corabi noted that the band’s release directly conflicted with his solo album, leading him to write a letter to founder David Lowy.
“And they decided to put the record out at the exact same time as mine,” Corabi said. “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.”
He concluded by choosing not to share further details about the situation. “There’s so much more to this story, and I probably already said too much,” Corabi concluded. “My parents always said, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, say nothing at all.'”
The dispute comes after a period of renewed changes within The Dead Daisies, with the band’s lineup and release plans shifting while Corabi pursued his solo work.
The Dead Daisies officially announced Corabi’s departure on July 14, 2026, after he had spent roughly three years with the band during his latest run. The group stated that Corabi had decided to leave.
Glenn Hughes later announced his retirement from touring and live performances in August 2026. Hughes made the decision after doctors advised him to undergo another open-heart surgery.
The announcement also affected the planned Purple Daisies performance. The October 2026 show at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California, was canceled, leaving The Dead Daisies without a vocalist for that live date.
Corabi has a long history with the band. He first joined The Dead Daisies in 2015 and returned for multiple periods, contributing vocals to albums including Revolución (2015), Make Some Noise (2016), Live & Louder (2017), and Burn It Down (2018).
The changes have added further uncertainty to the band’s next chapter, although Corabi has emphasized that Glenn Hughes’ return for live performances was not the reason he left. In his account, the central issue was the decision to release the live material close to his own album and the way those plans were communicated.
