MÖTLEY CRÜE's JOHN 5 Defends Bands Who Continue Without All Original Members

In a new interview with The Jeremy White Show, John 5, who joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars, spoke about classic rock and heavy metal bands who continue to tour and record even when some of the original members are no longer involved. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's very strange because all these bands, they're slowly going away. And it's totally, totally scary to me, because we have good rock and roll, but we need more good rock and roll. We need more bands to come out there. We need more bands to say 'look at me' and stuff, 'cause I'm looking. I can't wait to see new rock and roll. We need it, because they're going away."

He continued: "I was thinking about this the other day. Can you name — I don't know — let's say five bands, let's say starting from the '80s who have original members. 'Cause from the '70s it's impossible."

When White was unable to name any 1980s acts that still have their original lineups intact, John 5 added: "So just imagine, though, if a member left or passed away or something, God forbid, and then that band couldn't continue. There'd be nobody. Isn't that wild to think about?"

John 5 went on to defend aging rock acts for continuing to perform even when there are only one or two original members left.

"I'm speaking as a fan," he said. "I would love to see AC/DC one more time.

"Just take THE ROLLING STONES," he continued. "When Brian [Jones, founder and original leader of THE ROLLING STONES] died, what if THE STONES were, like, 'That's it. No more ROLLING STONES.' We'd have a few records. Unbelievable."

After White brought up QUEEN as an example of a band which is performing its classic sons with singer Adam Lambert, who was only nine years old when Freddie Mercury passed away, John 5 said: "And Adam Lambert is amazing. Incredible. You want to hear these songs. Music is about having a great time and forgetting about life for a while and enjoying the music. That's what you're supposed to do — you're supposed to enjoy the music."

Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE in the summer of 2022 that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in April 2023 the now-72-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

This past April, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx spoke to Josh Klinger of Chicago's Rock 95.5 radio station about the addition of John 5 to the band's lineup. Nikki said: "John's been around with me for a while. I had him write a song with me and Desmond Child for Meat Loaf called 'The Monster Is Loose'. And I put him on a SIXX:A.M. song he wrote with me called 'Lies Of The Beautiful People', which was a big song for that band. And I wrote a lot of [MÖTLEY CRÜE's] 'The Dirt' [soundtrack] songs with him. And he actually played guitar on those songs; the majority of those guitars are John. That was just because of the inability to get the songs recorded with Mick."

He continued: "John was kind of like easy prey for us. It was perfect. It was, like, well, he's a friend and he knows the band and he loves the band. And I talked to the band about it, 'cause we were put in a horrible situation. I mean, you've gotta imagine how much of my life is dedicated, and Tommy [Lee, CRÜE drummer] and Vince's life, when we were basically told that our guitar player's leaving the band. And we had to really think hard about, we were, like, 'Okay, do we let [concert promoter] Live Nation down? Do we pull off the tour and kind of screw DEF LEPPARD over? But what about our families and our fans?' So, we had to make a really hard decision. And I feel like we made the right decision."

Nikki added: "Sometimes you've gotta make a hard decision, and the decision was made to carry on. And I'm glad we did. We didn't just wing it. John had been around with us in different versions of playing, whether it was with me or other stuff. So it was hard, but the right thing to do. And now there's kind of a new lifeblood because we're out on the road. And then, of course, it's a nice energy amongst me and Tommy and Vince, because we've known each other for 43 years, and bringing in somebody else that it feels comfortable for us, it feels like a family on stage."