John 5 still isn’t sure how he came to replace Mick Mars in Motley Crue.
The 53-year-old musician took over from the axeman in the band in 2022, after the veteran guitarist announced his retirement – but there was never any formal discussion about his role.
John – whose real name is John Lowery – told Australian Guitar magazine: “There was never really any talk about it.
“It’s funny because we didn’t talk about business a lot. It was so much in our lives, so we didn’t talk about it.
“We talked about music and bands and records we love, movies and things like that, but I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, [Rob] Zombie, John 5 and the Creatures…’
“I mean, Nikki [Sixx] would say, ‘We’re getting ready for the tour and the tour’s huge,’ and things like that. I don’t even know how it all came about.”
Despite this, John didn’t hesitate when he was offered the chance to join the band.
The guitarist – who left Rob Zombie to join the Motley Crue – shared: “There were times when I was playing a show in the exact same city as Motley. I’d be three miles away in this large club while they were in a stadium.
“At the end of the tour, Nikki was like, ‘You know, I think Mick’s going to retire. A tour’s coming up. We’re gonna go to Europe and South America and do all this touring.’
“He said, ‘Is this something you would be interested in?’ To be honest with you, I look at this as ‘life is very short and I want to experience as much as I can.’ I was like, ‘Well of course’.”