In a new interview on the Thinking About Guitar podcast, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 pushed back against long-running claims that the band relies heavily on backing tracks during their live performances.
John 5, who joined MÖTLEY CRÜE more than three years ago, was asked about the ongoing debate surrounding what fans believe is “live” on stage versus what might be enhanced or supported in the mix. The guitarist made it clear he believes the discussion is often based on misunderstandings rather than reality.
John 5 said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I’m so glad you brought that up, and people don’t wanna talk about it, but I’m so glad you brought it up, because here’s the thing. I’ve always said, ’cause there was this talk that was going on for so long, like, ‘Oh, this person’s not playing live,’ or, ‘That person’s not playing live.’
“Everything — Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] is playing every note up there, but it’s so funny that people don’t wanna accept that. They’ll be, like, ‘Oh, his hands aren’t even on the bass,’ and it’ll be up in the air. But it’s, like, he’s fretting a note, or it’s he’ll have this arm up, but he’s picking with this hand. But people don’t understand that. Nikki plays every single note on that stage. He messes up. You can hear mistakes. Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer] plays everything. I play everything. Vince [Neil, MÖTLEY CRÜE vocalist] is singing. And I think people just don’t wanna hear that. I don’t understand why people don’t want to accept that, but we work really hard, and the live tracks, they sound great. We play. I listen to these songs, these tracks back, and I’m, like, ‘This sounds really great.’ And that’s ’cause we work hard at it. And that’s it. Everybody plays everything.”
He went on to acknowledge that while the band does use certain elements triggered from tape, the core performance remains fully live from all members on stage: “Listen, there’s backups [backing vocals] that are on track. Of course, there’s backups pumped in, there’s sirens pumped in, there is intros pumped in, but all the music that we’re playing is being performed by us. And I’m up there singing backups, and Nikki’s singing backups, and we do our best, and it’s probably… I’m not a singer. I’ve played with some of the greatest singers in the world, but I’m doing my best with backups. But, yeah, we play all of that stuff, and I’m proud of that. I’m proud of that. And everybody just works really hard.”
Backing tracks have been a recurring talking point for MÖTLEY CRÜE in recent years, especially after former guitarist Mick Mars publicly questioned the extent of pre-recorded elements used during live shows. Mars, who stepped away from touring in 2022 due to health issues, later escalated the situation with legal action against his former bandmates.
In a 2023 lawsuit, Mars claimed that during the band’s 2022 Stadium Tour, “Nikki didn’t play a single note on bass” and that significant portions of Vince Neil’s vocals and Tommy Lee’s drumming were pre-recorded. He also alleged that his role and contributions had been diminished within the group.
Both Vince Neil and the remaining members of MÖTLEY CRÜE have strongly denied those accusations. In a previous interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Neil dismissed Mars’ statements outright and suggested they stemmed from personal frustration over his departure from the band.
“No, we never did that, ever. It was Mick Mars who got pissed off, because we fired him, basically,” Neil said. “But his whole thing was that I don’t sing any of the lyrics, Nikki doesn’t play in his bass, and Tommy doesn’t play his drums. And we’re like, ‘What the f**k is he talking about? Because he was the only one on tape, because he kept f***ing stuff up, so we had him on tape.’
“When he started going off on some weird tangent, our sound guy just turned him off and turned the tape on. The only thing about that was that it was all in Mick Mars’ head.”
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