It turns out John 5 also received a message of support from his predecessor following the announcement of his appointment, with Mars personally reaching out to him after the news broke.
Speaking to SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk, John 5 discussed his relationship with Mars, revealing the long-standing Mötley Crüe guitarist was wholly supportive of his successor, who was drafted to fulfill a handful of live commitments.
“When I was announced as the guitar player, he was one of the very first texts that I got,” John 5 recalled (via Loudwire). “He said, ‘You're going to kill it.’ It's good. It's not like it's some stranger coming in. We have a great respect for each other.”
The relationship between Mick Mars and Mötley Crüe has soured somewhat in recent months, however. In April, Mars sued the band for conspiring to fire him, and claimed his former bandmates had attempted to remove him as a significant stakeholder in Crüe’s various businesses.
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At the time, Mars also accused the band of miming onstage, saying bassist Nikki Sixx mimed all his parts, while the rest of the band – Tommy Lee and Vince Neil – did for some of theirs.
The band – through their attorney – responded to Mars by affirming that the band “always performs their songs live”, and that “retiring from touring is resigning from the band”.
In his recent conversation with Trunk, John 5 weighed in on the conversation by saying, “Not 99 percent, not 98 percent, but 100 percent – Nikki is playing every single note on that stage.
“When people say we're playing to backing tracks, I take it as a compliment because we rehearse so hard,” he went on. “We even have penalty flags if someone messes up at rehearsal – we throw a penalty flag at them.
“We rehearse so much and I take it as a compliment because it means we sound that good live. In my heart of hearts, I know that we're playing live.”
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
