Cover Story: John 5 and Richie Kotzen • Dual Shredders
Richie Kotzen and John 5
The exceptional guitar artistry of one John William Lowery, professionally known as John 5, is internationally celebrated. The guitarist’s musical resume includes a wide range of diverse artists, such as k.d. Lang, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, and Meat Loaf, while also contributing to projects with rockers like David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, Lita Ford, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie.
Since 2023, John 5 has stepped into the shoes of former Mötley Crüe guitarist and fan favorite Mick Mars as the band’s current guitarist. After recently wrapping up the Crüe Park MGM residency in Las Vegas, John 5 is primed to resume his solo career and will celebrate it with the release of his 11th solo studio album, **Ghost (released on October 10, 2025), and its corresponding US tour. “The Mötley shows went off perfectly; Vince did incredibly well, everybody played great, and it was super successful.” John 5 exclaims during a recent Zoom chat. “The album comes out in a few days, and we’re going to hit the road. I love nothing more than being on the road. I’m so excited, I can’t wait. We’re going to have so much fun; we are going to have a blast.”
Much like John 5’s counterpart, fellow shredder and multi-instrumentalist Richie Kotzen has equally carved out a spectacular musical career with vast and diverse acts such as Smith/Kotzen, The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, and Poison. Kotzen has released over 20 solo albums that span the musical gamut, encompassing genres such as rock, pop, blues, soul, R&B, funk, and jazz fusion.
MIDWEST MADHOUSE
Launching on October 16 and running through late November, the duo will embark on a co-headlining tour across the US. A tour package featuring two prominent shredders, such as John 5 and Kotzen, makes for a special evening. These shows are guaranteed to be a great night not only for guitar fanatics, but for general music lovers as well.
The initial idea for this tour arose because both guitarists share the same booking agent, and before they even discussed doing a package tour, they were already thinking of each other. “Without even talking to each other, it kind of came together,” Kotzen explained. “The powers that be sort of brought it together. I know John did something like this with Marty Friedman, and I happened to have been talking to my agent, who was at the same company as John, and we were talking about the idea of teaming up with someone. And then he mentioned John’s name, and I thought it was a fantastic idea.”
John 5 also reflects on the impetus of putting the tour together. “I was talking to (my booking agent) Dan, and I said it’d be great if Richie and I just went and toured all over the place because it was very successful with Marty. I always use myself as an example, like, I would really like to see this; I would love to see Richie Kotzen and Marty Friedman. I would always put things like that together. And I think that’s why things work, because you put yourself in those situations as the general public, what they would want to see? I always thought that’d be really cool, me and Richie on tour. And sure enough, here we go.”
The tour includes a crucial stop at Arcada Theatre in St. Charles on November 22. Given each guitarist’s impressive touring log over each of their long careers, Chicago has always been a highlight to each of their past concert itineraries. “That’s a great place to play, the St. Charles venue,” Kotzen exclaims. “I have a lot of memories from playing there because I played there solo before. But also, The Winery Dogs played there, and we shot some music video footage in that venue. The crowds in general in that part of the country are always really interactive, which, for us, I think that’s the key. You get on the stage and you know they’re fired up. You need that energy from the crowd, and that reason never disappoints.”
As a Midwesterner himself, John 5 always feels a connection with the Midwest and is equally excited to play in Chicagoland. “Maybe because I was born in Michigan… but it is a madhouse,” he exclaims. “When we play in the Midwest, it’s literally a madhouse. It’s wonderful. But I love playing on the West Coast. I love playing on the East Coast and down south. So, to answer the question, anytime I have a guitar in my hands, I’m happy!”
MUSICAL MAGIC
For Kotzen, he’s been rather busy lately with his Smith/Kotzen project. The duo’s latest dynamic album, Black Light/White Noise, was recently released in April. Kotzen’s last solo album, Nomad, was released last year, followed by a successful tour. “We toured and I loved the album, but for me it’s really a case of input and output,” he confesses. “I love getting on stage and playing, but the primary thing for me is creating new music. But in order to do that, I need some kind of input. So things need to happen for me in my life to have perspective, and then I can have things to write about. I did actually write one song this year that I demoed, so that’s sitting there, and I’ve got a bunch of other things in various forms.”
John 5 also remains highly proficient between his Crüe gigs by releasing his diverse and creative solo albums. On Ghost, the 10 dynamic compositions run the musical gamut once again. There’s everything from blues to rock to jazz to Salsa and more on display. “The love I have for all these different styles of music… there’s a Robert Johnson-esque one on there (“You, Me And The Devil Makes Three”), and there’s “Moon Glow,” a jazz standard. And of course tons of rock and craziness. How we did this record was, I wanted to do everything as a performance. I would work on it for a few weeks and get it down pat and record it as a performance. And if I messed up, I would start over from the top and record with no overdubs or anything—or no punch-ins, I should say. So everything you hear from it is just a live performance, and it was a lot of fun that way. I don’t know why I did it that way, but it was really a lot of fun.”
Ghost features some stellar and diverse guest drummers such as Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction, Porno for Pyros) on “Deviant,” Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty) on “Fiend,” Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, Joe Satriani) on “Moon Glow,” and Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Marty Friedman) on “Executioner.” Fellow Crüe member and drummer Tommy Lee even provides enthusiastic hand claps and foot stomps on the bluesy “You, Me And The Devil Makes Three.” In addition, John 5’s longtime drummer Alex Mercado is featured on all the other tracks. “I’m obsessed with Steely Dan and I listen to every interview and I listen to every podcast about Steely Dan,’ John 5 admits. “And that’s exactly what they would do. They would have a song, and they would have all these incredible musicians play on certain stuff. And that’s what I did with this record with all these great drummers. Each song is its own animal, and it really worked out great. I just love that whole Steely Dan approach.”
For the upcoming tour, each guitarist will share approximately an hour apiece on stage, performing key compositions in their vast musical repertoire. Kotzen has been releasing records since 1989, starting with his self-titled debut album. Given that, Kotzen has a plethora of material to consider when collating his setlist for the upcoming tour. “I love playing my songs and my show is built around that,” Kotzen explains. “But what I really like is the ability to be able to communicate musically and have a bit of a conversation. That’s what I kind of really reach for when I get on stage to have those moments where we can kind of go places beyond what I wrote in the studio. Certain songs, such as “You Can’t Save Me,” “Love Is Blind,” or “Remember.” Then we’ve got some stuff from the last record, *Nomad*, and then a couple songs from **50 for 50.”
Any fan who has attended a John 5 show knows that one of the highlights of his performance is his instrumental medley, consisting of various influential cover songs. For the past few years, John 5 has been including a mini-Mötley medley into his set. Plus, you can bet that there will be two or three new songs from *Ghost* that he will be unleashing for the first time upon an audience. “I’m doing a couple of songs from previous records, songs that people love,” he confesses. “Which is so strange because the songs, these are instrumental songs—crazy instrumental songs. But sometimes I put little vocal hooks on them; a voice box or something like that. And people shout these vocal hooks out, and it’s really fun.”
John 5 confessed that they will be recording some of these shows on the tour for a possible live album, following the guitarist’s release of two previous concert albums.
FUTURE ENDEAVORS
Following the John 5/Kotzen US tour and ushering in the new year, Smith/Kotzen kicks off a European tour beginning on February 3 (Kotzen’s birthday) in Spain. “John and I are going to tour our brains out and kick it across the United States,” Kotzen exclaims. “Then I’m going to gear back up again and hit it next year. Smith/Kotzen’s obviously going to need more rehearsal because that actually has a lot more moving parts, because there’s two lead singers, two lead guitar players, two songwriters. This is a solid rock show where we have to really figure out who’s playing what, when, and where.”
The fifth John 5 NAMM JAM, an annual concert hosted by the guitarist, takes place in January 2026 in conjunction with the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in California. For this show, John 5 has invited the legendary Living Colour to headline the event.
Following a few more solo shows, John 5 has something crazy in the works that he has revealed. “I’m going to do 50 shows, 50 states in 50 days… so, 50 shows in a row,” he enthuses. “Every state will be a different show. We’re going to start in Alaska, and every state will be a different show, and we’re going to end in Hawaii. We have doctors on call, and we have a van following the bus just in case the bus breaks down. We all jump in a van, and we have gear in that van. It’s all being planned out, crazy style. And we’re going to document the whole thing. It’s going to be nuts.”
**See John 5 and Richie Kotzen at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles on November 22 and at the Apollo Activity Center in Belvedere on November 23.
Category: Cover Story, Featured, Monthly
