John 5 said he burst into tears after playing his first show with Mötley Crüe, with two members of his favorite band watching from the crowd, he told Guitar World.
John 5 has long been a devoted KISS fan. He invited two of the band’s founding members to his debut performance with Mötley Crüe in Atlantic City.
“My first and favorite band is KISS,” John 5 said. “And Ace and Peter came to the first Mötley show. And so I invited them and they drove, they drove, you know, 2 hours each.”
Coming off stage after the show, John 5 was overwhelmed by the moment. “I got off the stage and everyone was like, ‘That was awesome.’ And I burst out into tears for some reason. Like uncontrollably.”
He explained the depth of emotion he felt in that moment. “It was just so, so much emotion. It was so weird, you know, to have my heroes there and playing with Mötley Crüe and all that stuff.”
John 5 made these comments in an interview about his early days with his new band and the significance of having Frehley and Criss present at the show.
John 5 joined Mötley Crüe in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for co-founding guitarist Mick Mars, who announced his retirement from touring that October due to worsening health issues. Before joining the band, John 5 had been a fixture in Rob Zombie’s band since 2005, and he had long been friends with bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee.
Mötley Crüe held their first rehearsal with John 5 on January 23, 2023, in preparation for a co-headlining world tour with Def Leppard. The band’s first show with their new guitarist took place on February 10, 2023, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where Frehley and Criss watched him perform for the first time as a member of his childhood heroes.
John 5 was welcomed into Mötley Crüe as a full-fledged member in 2023. In 2024, the band released “Dogs of War,” which marked John 5’s first appearance on new material with the group. That October, Mötley Crüe released the EP Cancelled, which contained two original songs and a cover of the Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right.
