“I love these small venues, because I can see everybody and I can interact with the people. They can record the show if they want. They can do whatever they want. I just love playing guitar and playing these kinds of shows.”
Back when my favorite band on planet earth, Mötley Crüe, parted ways with their original guitar player Mick Mars (or, better yet, had him retire from touring), many of us Crüeheads were scratching our noggins as to who the new guitar player was going to be. When we soon learned it would be John 5 from Rob Zombie’s band, and most like me let out a big sigh of relief that it was John 5 and not someone who wouldn’t fit in with Mötley Crüe. I’ve seen John perform with Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie over the years, and yes, he was the perfect replacement for Mick Mars.
I got to see John’s first show with Mötley at my old stomping grounds, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City back in February of 2023, and he had Mick’s tone down to a tee. He played everything Mick would play and the way he would play it. He didn’t stray once to play anything his way. To me, this was a great tribute to the man who helped bring Mötley Crüe to the forefront of hard rock and heavy metal. As a Crüe, and as much as I love Mick Mars, John 5 has been one hell of a fitting replacement in the band and it seems they all seem to be getting along famously like the old days. They even started pumping out new music like the “Dogs of War” single from earlier this year. With John 5, the Crüe has been back to traveling all around the world playing large stadiums and festivals ever since that fateful February evening that I saw them kick off John 5’s career as a member of Mötley Crüe.
This fall, John 5 is hitting the road with his solo band, which is what he’s been doing many years, and what better time to do so than when Mötley Crüe has some downtime. The guitarist even released a brand new single called “A Hollywood Story,” and the video for it is outstanding; it’s a short biography on his career in music accompanied by his dazzling fretwork.
I got to Zoom John 5 into my office and chat for a little while about Mötley, his solo jaunts, the new music, KISS, and more for The Aquarian. He’s the best, and here’s how it went down:
You are literally living every Crüe fan’s dream, John. I heard you say in a past interview that when you look across the stage at Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil, you feel like you’re looking at the “Home Sweet Home” music video, which I think is hilarious! Now that it’s been over a year of touring with the band, do you still feel that way?
Yeah, it’s almost two years now! It’s going to be two years in October, which is crazy, but we’ve done so much. I mean, we went to Australia, went to Japan, toured all through Europe, all through South America, Mexico, did the United States a bunch, recorded new music. There are photo shoots, too, and it’s been so much stuff. It’s been a blast – a total, total blast.
Canada, too! We just did Canada. It’s been really wild and we all just have a blast together. We all have so much fun together, you know? We see each other when we’re not working, too, so it’s really great!
Well, if I’m not mistaken, when you were doing your solo tours in the past, Nikki would show up at some of your gigs and just jump on stage with you.
Yeah, Nikki showed up on the last tour, and Tommy [Lee] showed up. I mean, we’re always together – not when we’re on tour, but like in general, we’ll just go hang out and go do stuff.
Recently, on Instagram, two of your posts saw you feeling the need to explain to your fans, who accused you of not playing live, that you’re actually playing with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Do think that media – or even social media – has been hurting the industry with these ‘fake news’ videos? I mean, fans can manipulate videos to change any narrative. I’ve seen you play, and you are clearly not playing to a track!
It’s so funny, you know? I don’t have a problem explaining. I always have a guitar with me and I’m always playing, always picking, so the best way to do things is to explain it, and some people still don’t understand. I just explained it to them slowly, carefully, and talked about it because it’s so important for me to play and to play perfectly. I have this crazy, crazy OCD about playing perfectly. It’s very important to me.
I was there for your first show at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City and afterward, people would ask me, “So, how was John 5?” Because, believe it or not, I’ve been to 90 Mötley Crüe shows in my entire life. I’ve been there since the beginning, so I know you’ve done an amazing job coming in and playing exactly what Mick Mars has been playing his entire career, and I think that there’s something to be said for that. I mean, not to take anything away from what you’re a guitar playing, obviously, because you’re amazing, and I loved you with Rob Zombie and I loved what you did with Marilyn Manson and even KD Lang, but I knew you would be an amazing fit for Crüe and I’m happy that you’re there.
Thank you very much, and wow, that’s a lot of shows! It’s important to me because I love these songs just like anybody else, and sometimes online people are like, “Oh, well, it’s not that crazy or reckless, how Mick played it and stuff.” I really like playing it how it was on the record, though, because that’s what you listen to. You listen to the songs on the record, and that’s how I really like to play this stuff. I wanted to keep it very simple and just play it how they’re supposed to be played. These songs deserve respect and that’s what I’m trying to do – just give it as much respect as it deserves.
We actually have such a good time on stage, too, and I think that really matters. I think the crowd really reacts to that, too, because it’s genuine. Nikki will come over and step on my foot or will blow in my ear, and Vince will come up and put a bra on my head or something like that. It’s been a lot of fun.
Is that what you expected from them, how to be on stage?
Well, I’ve known the guys for so long –except for Vince. It’s funny, I first met Vince when I got in the band, and we were at Tommy’s birthday. We met there, and it was really, really funny.
Let’s talk about your solo stuff, because that’s what we’re here to promote, right? You’ll be stopping by Empire Live in Albany on September 4. Do you feel that, since you joined Mötley, even though you’ve been doing the solo touring since before them, obviously, the club crowds have gotten bigger?
You know, I see a lot more Mötley Crüe shirts and things like that at the solo shows, but what’s funny is that I love playing these places. I absolutely love it. To go into a venue… I love these small venues, because I can see everybody and I can interact with the people. They can record the show if they want. They can do whatever they want. I just love playing guitar and playing these kinds of shows. I don’t know what it is, if it’s from when I was a kid playing these kind of venues. I just really, really enjoy it. Here in California, back in the day, I could go see Lynyrd Skynyrd in a club, which was wild! You know, he would just go play at the Troubadour or something and go see Electric Fence, Paul Gilbert’s thing. He was just at the Troubadour or something like that. You could see Rod Stewart get up on stage at the Troubadour, or anybody like that. I just think that there’s something really special about that, and I really enjoy doing these shows
There is amazing storytelling on your new song and video for “A Hollywood Story.” That was one of the few videos that I actually watched beginning to end because I was so captivated by your playing and the video footage. What a storied life you’ve had, and it keeps going.
It’s been a lot of fun, but just so you know, they’re doing this documentary on me and everybody’s in it. It’s not just like, “Oh, look at me,” and things like that. It’s kind of about how I have this OCD about playing guitar, and I had a bunch of tragedy in my life, and how I got through it without medication, by just playing guitar and stuff like that. It really helped me.
Everybody is in this documentary, like Dolly Parton and of course, K.D. Lang and Rob Halford and Michael Anthony and, you know, the Skynyrd guys. Tommy and Nikki, too, and Rob Zombie is in it. It’s a really cool documentary that’s gonna be coming out, but that music video was like a little taste of the documentary. It was “A Hollywood Story,” and it is pretty fun stuff!
Who is releasing the documentary? Netflix?
Well, we’re not sure yet. We are just finishing it up and it’s really cool. It’s got a really great message to it, so I think people are going to enjoy it.
Who is playing in the live band right now, and what does your setlist look like? Are there any surprises?
I like to change the setlist. Of course I’ll play the songs that people really enjoy, but I like to change it up. I’ll play “A Hollywood Story,” and I’ll do this new song called “L.A. Express.” I’m going to do a Mötley medley. I like to add new songs, and I always do live records. I’m going to record this tour as well. It’s going to be really fun. I just get so happy and excited doing these shows, and I think we’re doing like 30 shows in like 33 days, which is like… a lot of shows.
Yeah, you’re not going to sleep!
No, no, no, which I love, because I’d be playing guitar anyway on the day off, so it doesn’t matter. I’ll just do it in front of an audience!
Back to the Mötley Crüe stuff – is there a favorite song that you like to play in the set or are there any songs that you would like them to add to the set?
Of course, I love all these songs. “Wild Side,” of course, I love! I love them all. “Too Fast for Love,” “Live Wire,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Same Ol’ Situation,” “Kickstart My Heart.” You know, it just it doesn’t end, just all these great songs. What would I want to play? I don’t know… any of them! I really like “Louder Than Hell,” but, God, I don’t know. All of them, because I love them all. I really do. I’m excited when they’ll say, “Oh, let’s try this or try that” I mean, we’re doing “On With The Show” now, and it’s so much fun. It really is a blast! Or “Take Me to the Top” – just such great ones like “10 Seconds To Love,” “Bastard,” “Knock ‘Em Dead Kid.” I know Vince really loves “Red Hot.”
Yes! Is there a reason why they don’t play that anymore?
I don’t know. Maybe we will. That would be great!
Is there more than “Dogs of War” coming from this new iteration of Mötley Crüe?
Yeah, there’s another one that’s done that we’re going to release. I’m not sure of when it’s going to be released, but it’s awesome, man. It’s a banger. It really is cool. It’s a heavy groove, riff-driven, great melody, great lyric. I’m not sure when that’s going to come out, but it’s going to come out.
Did they give you full carte blanche with the songwriting? I know that Nikki likes to do most of the songwriting for the band, but did they give you carte blanche when it came to your parts?
Oh, yeah! Me, Nikki, and Tommy, we’ve all worked on music together for a long time, so it was wonderful. Yeah, everybody had their hands in these [new songs], which was wonderful. Nikki has written some of the greatest songs in rock that we have, and it’s just really fun to watch those guys work together, especially with Bob Rock. What an amazing producer!
A good friend of mine asked me if I thought John 5 was challenged at all when he was learning any of the Mötley Crüe songs or solos. So, now I’m asking you…
I knew them all already – I really did, I’m not kidding! I know all of the songs. I have this weird thing where I can remember songs. I can remember everything. I learned them when they came out and I knew them all because I played them at talent shows, Battle of the Bands, and things like that. So, yeah, I knew all these songs. Nikki would call and be like, “Hey, how’s it going with the songs?” And I’d be like, “It’s going great,” but I knew them already.
I’m not saying this will ever happen, but hypothetically, if Mötley Crüe was to do a sequel to their hit bio-pic The Dirt, who would you want to see play John 5?
I don’t know. I guess either Ryan Gosling or Brad Pitt [Laughs].
You’re also a rabid KISS collector. Have you made any additions to your collection? Are there any pieces out there that you’re salivating for, but still have not been able to obtain yet?
I’m glad you asked about it, because it’s just like shoveling sand. It always keeps coming! Listen, I only do up to 1983, so we’re talking 1974 to 1983, just those nine years. There is so much stuff from all over the world, all these countries. I can’t believe the amount of merchandise, music, albums, variants of albums, variants of cassettes and 8-tracks and merchandise and T-shirts and programs and backstage passes and magazines and posters and toys. I mean, it’s just like shoveling sand. You’ll never get it all! Oh, concert posters! Yeah, so I’m going to have a museum, because I have this Instagram page called Knights In Satan’s Service (KISS), but I’m going to have it at the beginning of the year, and it’s only going to be six people at a time. I’m going to show the stuff, talk to the people, and answer questions. The reason it’s going to be such a limited amount of people is because I want to spend the time with the people, and they could stay at a two hour maximum. You can stay in this place and look through everything for two hours at a time. It’s up to you – just look through everything, ask questions, because, I mean, this is it. There are a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces in this collection that you won’t see anywhere else, but it’s good! It’s rock and roll history, and I think it’s important to have this and not just hiding in someone’s attic where no one is able to see it or touch it or anything like that. People will be able to touch the outfits or thumb through the records or look through the shirts – and you can play two pinball machines! You can play me in pinball, and that’s cool! You know, ask KISS questions, too, and all that stuff. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, but it’s gonna be very, very, very limited to people. It’s in a secret location. You’re gonna park in a certain area, and then we’re gonna have cars that bring you in. It’s going to be really wild, like blacked out windows and all that.
Have you been to the one that Gene Simmons has out in Las Vegas yet?
Yes, I have! You know, it’s a beautiful and amazing collection. The difference with mine is that it is all seventies up until Creatures of the Night, so it’s just all of that stuff. I mean, the rarest of the rare of the rare of the rare. It’s going to be a lot.
Has Gene ever offered you anything for your collection?
No. I’ve gotten stuff from Ace [Frehley] and I’ve gotten stuff from Peter [Criss], but no, that’s it. And of course, they had that huge auction in 2001, I think, or 2000. I got a bunch of stuff from there.
Ok, one more question, John: I heard that that when you joined Mötley, you hadn’t heard from Rob Zombie. Has that changed? Have you heard from him?
No, unfortunately. I love the guy and, you know, we were in the band together for 17 years, and we made great music, great videos, did great shows. He has a great band now, and he’s doing wonderful. I wish him nothing but the best. There’s definitely no bad blood on my end at all, and hopefully there’s no bad blood on his end, because I have nothing but the utmost respect for him.
CATCH JOHN 5 ON HIS STRUNG OUT SOLO TOUR THIS FALL, WITH A STOP TONIGHT IN ALBANY, NY! FOR TICKETS & INFO, VISIT JOHN 5’S WEBSITE!
