John 5 has spent thirty years playing other people's songs on other people's stages. In 2027 he is going to play them on his own, and he has hired a frontman to help.
JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES featuring Wednesday 13 have announced their first show: WACKEN OPEN AIR, running July 28–31, 2027 in Wacken, Germany. It is the first time the guitarist's solo band will include a singer, and the setlist is built as a walk back through his career — material from Rob Zombie, MARILYN MANSON, MÖTLEY CRÜE and David Lee Roth alongside his own instrumental catalogue.
Speaking to Neil Jones of TotalRock, Wednesday 13 said the two have circled each other for the better part of two decades. "I toured with Rob Zombie, and when he was with Alice Cooper, MURDERDOLLS, we did a tour for a full year… So I became friends with John. And then we did some solo shows together… We're L.A. guys."
The offer, when it came, was an easy yes. "It couldn't be a better, better thing for me to do because the bands he's been involved in are all my favorite bands, bands I grew up on, the bands that influenced my sound — MÖTLEY CRÜE, MARILYN MANSON, WHITE ZOMBIE, ROB ZOMBIE, all that stuff. I mean, that's what I sound like. So to sing those songs, it's natural for me to do it."
He compared it to the last time a player of that calibre picked him. "Very similar to [late SLIPKNOT drummer and MURDERDOLLS guitarist] Joey Jordison, who was the best drummer. And you go, 'Why is this guy playing with me?' And then here I've got John 5, equivalent greatest guitar player… It makes me not feel like such a dipshit."
They have already jammed. "It clicked instantly… I did not have to look at a lyric sheet or anything at all. I knew it. And that is a cool thing too, 'cause I still listen to that music. It ain't, like, 'Oh, I grew up on it.' No, I'm still growing up on it."
More European and North American dates are promised around the Wacken booking. John 5, now a member of MÖTLEY CRÜE, released his twelfth solo album "Ghost" in October 2025.
Source: blabbermouth.net