After much speculation, John 5 has officially joined Mötley Crüe for touring duties. This news comes shortly after Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars announced his retirement from touring due to his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis.
"While change is never easy, we accept Mick's decision to retire from the band due to the challenges with his health. We have watched Mick manage his Ankylosing Spondylitis for decades and he has always managed it with utmost courage and grace. To say 'enough is enough' is the ultimate act of courage. Mick's sound helped define Mötley Crüe from the minute he plugged in his guitar at our very first rehearsal together. The rest, as they say, is history. We'll continue to honor his musical legacy.
"We will carry out Mick's wish and continue to tour the world as planned in 2023. No doubt will it take an absolutely outstanding musician to fill Mick's shoes so we are grateful that our good friend, John 5 has agreed to come on board and join us moving forward. We'll see all you Crüeheads out on the road!"
Mötley Crüe and John 5 previously worked on three new songs together – "The Dirt (Est. 1981)," "Ride with the Devil," and "Crash and Burn" – for The Dirt Soundtrack in 2019. John 5 previously stated in an interview with 102.9 The Hog that he and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx have a close relationship and that working on the music for The Dirt Soundtrack was a great time.
"Me and Nikki are like two 15-year-olds who are just on the phone twenty thousand times a day and we hang out all the time. We'll go to the mall and we'll go ride bikes and we'll do ridiculous stuff like that. And so, of course, we like to play music together, and yeah, that's how that came about — writing music for 'The Dirt'. And those songs are killer."
Mötley Crüe recently announced a handful of tour dates with Def Leppard for 2023, which you can check out below.
2/18 – Mexico City, Mexico – Foro Sol
2/21 – Monterrey, Mexico – Estadio Banorte
2/25 – Bogota, Colombia – Parque Simon Bolivar
2/28 – Lima, Peru – Estadio Nacional
3/03 – Santiago, Chile – Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida
3/07 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Allianz Parque
3/09 – Curitiba, Brazil – Estádio Couto Pereira
3/11 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Arena do Grêmio
5/22 – Sheffield, UK – Bramall Lane
5/25 – Mönchengladbach, Germany – SparkassenPark
5/27 – Munich, Germany – Koenigsplatz
5/29 – Budapest, Hungary – MVM Dome
5/31 – Krakow, Poland – Tauron Arena Kraków
6/02 – Prague, Czech Republic – Prague Rocks
6/03 – Hannover, Germany – Expo Plaza
6/07 – Solvesborg, Sweden – Sweden Rock Festival
6/09 – Hyvinkää, Finland – RockFest
6/11 – Trondheim, Norway – Trondheim Rocks
6/14 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Copenhell
6/18 – Dessel, Belgium – Graspop Metal Meeting
6/20 – Milan, Italy – Ippodromo SNAI San Siro
6/23 – Lisbon, Portugal – Passeio Maritimo de Alges
6/24 – Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain – Auditorio Miguel Ríos
6/27 – Thun, Switzerland – Stockhorn Arena
7/01 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
7/02 – Lytham, UK – Lytham Festival
7/04 – Dublin, Ireland – Marlay Park
7/06 – Glasgow, UK – Hampden Park
