Nikki Sixx: Rob Zombie “Was Not Happy” That John 5 Left to Join Mötley Crüe

Major lineup changes in a band can be a massive pain in the ass, but apparently when John 5 left Rob Zombie‘s band to join Mötley Crüe, the move especially burned ol’ Zombo’s ass. At least that little revelation is according to Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, who spilled the beans on The Mistress Carrie Podcast (as trasncribed by Blabbermouth).

According to Sixx, Rob Zombie wasn’t too thrilled that he was going to have to find a replacement for John 5 as a result of Mötley Crüe’s dropping of Mick Mars. Still, Mars swears neither he nor the rest of the band was trying to poach the guitarist at the time.

“It was one of those things that I feel bad about. It wasn’t my decision. It was John’s decision. 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.”

Two things stand out from that statement: first, of course Zombie would be pissed, he just lost a killer guitarist out of the blue and second, “the next-level thing” insinuates that Rob Zombie’s operation is beneath Mötley Crüe’s. I’d venture to say that at least Zombie can still do his part up there on stage, which is more than can be said for Vince Neil…

This also kinda flies in the face of what John 5 said last year when he told Eddie Trunk that his old boss was “fine” and “cool about it”. Rob Zombie eventually reunited with Mike Riggs after John 5’s departure. Sixx said Zombie eventually came around to the situation though.

“[John 5 had] been with Rob for a long, long time, and they were kind of coming to an end of a tour. And he talked to Rob, and Rob was not happy but understood. I still feel bad about that. That was never my intention, to go out and steal somebody from another band.

“That’s not what we did. But I have so much respect for Rob. It’s one of those things where I’m really happy and at the same time I’m, like… Sometimes this stuff’s fucking hard. Like making a decision to move on without an original member.

“It’s not exactly as seamless as people would like it to seem. There’s some little bumps along the way, little bumps in the road.”