John 5 Reveals the Last Time He Spoke to Rob Zombie

John 5 revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Rob Zombie since he left his band to join Motley Crue two years ago.

The guitarist was officially named the newest member of Motley Crue in October of 2022, just after Mick Mars announced his retirement from touring due to his ongoing battle with ankylosing spondylitis.

John 5 had played for Zombie since 2006. The 2022 Louder Than Life festival was his final performance with the shock rocker, and a few weeks later at Aftershock, the vocalist took the stage with original guitarist Mike Riggs. When introducing Riggs, Zombie simply told the audience that he was back “after a 20-year absence” [via Metal Injection].

According to a new interview on Jamey Jasta‘s The Jasta Show, John 5 and Zombie still haven’t spoken to each other since the split. The guitarist assures there’s no bad blood between them, there just hasn’t been a conversation since he informed the singer of his new endeavor with Motley Crue.

“We’re not on bad terms. And Rob wished me well. And he was, like, ‘Go get ’em,’ and all that stuff,” John 5 said. “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. So I just want to see so many more things.”

The rocker recalled seeing Riggs standing on the side of the stage during his final performance with Zombie at Louder Than Life in 2022, as he’d told Zombie of his departure prior to the festival.

“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 Robdidn’t want me to play Aftershock. So Riggs played that one,” he explained.

John 5 admitted he thought it was a bit of a “weird transition” since they crowd didn’t know Riggs was there in place of him, but it worked out fine in the end.

READ MORE: Motley Crue Announce 2025 Las Vegas Residency

Watch the full conversation toward the bottom of the page.

Nikki Sixx Felt ‘Bad’ About John 5 Leaving Zombie’s Band

Earlier this year, Nikki Sixx confessed that he felt guilty for taking John 5 away from Zombie’s band.

“It wasn’t my decision. It was John’s decision,” Sixx stated on the Mistress Carrie Podcast. “I had been talking to John as a friend during some of the frustrations with Mick’s playing, specifically on the tour. And he was my friend. And when I called him and said, ‘Wow, we’re faced with a really bad situation.’ And we talked. And he wanted to do the next-level thing in his life.”

Crue have released a couple of songs since John 5 joined the band, including “Cancelled,” which just came out at the start of this month.

John 5 Reveals He Hasn’t Spoken to Rob Zombie Since He Left to Join Motley Crue