During an appearance on “The Jasta Show,” the video podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, John 5 was asked if he had stayed in touch with Rob Zombie after leaving Rob‘s band in the fall of 2022 to join MÖTLEY CRÜE as the replacement for the band’s co-founding guitarist, Mick Mars.
“We’re not on bad terms,” John 5 said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “And Rob wished me well. And he was, like, ‘Go get ’em,’ and all that stuff. So we’re not on bad terms, but we just have not spoke; we haven’t spoken to each other. But he’s doing great. He’s got a great new band, and he’s kicking a*s out there. But we just haven’t talked. I don’t think there’s any bad blood or anything. I mean, 17 years and things like that, but it was just time to…
“I wanna live my life, and to get an opportunity at this stage is a pretty rare opportunity,” he continued. “So I just want to see so many more things. I’m never gonna retire — I guarantee you that; I’ll never retire, but I just wanna do so much more.”
When asked if he had any role in the decision to bring Mike Riggs back to Rob‘s band after his departure to join MÖTLEY CRÜE, John 5 responded: “No. I think what happened was we played [the] Louder Than Life [festival in September 2022], and I told Rob that I was joining MÖTLEY CRÜE. And we had two shows to do — we had Louder Than Life and we had Aftershock [in October 2022]. And so I told Rob, and then we went to go do Louder Than Life, and I saw Riggs kind of standing on the side. And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s great. I think Riggs would be incredible.’ He did great work on the earlier tours, and I just thought it was a wonderful idea. So I even said to Rob, I was, like, ‘Rob, if he needs anything, if he wants cabinets, if he needs this or that or anything I can do to help,’ I wanted to help in any way. But then Aftershock, I guess Rob didn’t want me to play Aftershock. So Riggs played that one.
“What’s so strange about it is the public had no idea what was going on. And that’s what was so strange, is that, all of a sudden, here’s Aftershock and then I’m not there. So everyone was, like, ‘Well, what’s going on?’ But I think people figured it out and it was fine and wonderful. It was a weird transition, but that’s okay.
John 5 continued: “I think Rob, he’s doing awesome, and I think the band is awesome. And I think it’s a wonderful band and people are enjoying it. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about people having fun and enjoying the music, and that’s what’s happening.”
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