Nikki Sixx Explains How Motley Crue Recruited John 5

Michael Angulia | 04-24-2023

Photo by antiMusic's Rob Grabowski

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx explained in a new interview how the band recruited John 5 to replace original guitarist Mick Mars in the band and what it has been like working with the new guitarist.

Sixx made the comments during an interview with Planet Rock, where he also discussed the lawsuit that was recently filed by Mars against the band.

On John 5 he shared, "I've been friends with John forever and I would make jokes 'as long as you're a 5, I feel good being a Sixx.' Y'know, stupid best buddy jokes. Me and that guy have been either hanging out at each other's houses, writing songs... he plays (guitar) all day long. So, he comes over here and he grabs one of my guitars or brings his own and we just sit around and play and talk about the 70s and how great Lynyrd Skynyrd and Scooby Doo was.

"My wife just said that when Mick (Mars) told us he was leaving the band and I told her I'd talked to Tommy and Vince, and everybody feels that John would be a great fit, and I hadn't called John yet because you had to be sure we were doing everything correctly. My wife said 'well, that's great.' I said 'what do you mean by that?' She goes 'well, you'll be going on stage and you'll be on the phone to John.' And they're like 'you gotta go on stage!', and he'll be like 'ok, call me back in an hour and a half.' "So we're always chatting and jamming and the friendship is so wonderful. Him and Tommy are really close, Vince loves him. He's just a great guy and a great musician and he gives us a great opportunity as a three-piece so to speak to really lock in. He's just such a great guitar player."

Sixx indirectly referenced Mars, "It's nothing against any other musician that you play with, just that when you play with new musicians you play differently. We're still playing the same songs that people wanna hear but it kind of like re-inspires you. And I'm sure the same thing would happen if they got a new bass player. They're like 'oh wow, he's attacking it differently.' So it's never about how bad anybody was.

"It's a nice time (for Mötley Crüe) and it's kind of inspired us to write a little bit. We love our history, we're very proud of everything we've done. We've always been really supportive of Mick no matter what Mick was going through. We're just happy with where we're at right now."