John 5

John William Lowery (born July 31, 1970), best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist.

In 1996, Lowery heard that Marilyn Manson was looking for a guitarist and attempted to cold-call the studio Manson was working with to request an audition, but was hung up on, as the guitarist role had already been given to Zim Zum.

Lowery teamed up with then-former Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, along with Sid Riggs (drums) James Wooley (keyboards), and Ray Riendeau (bass) to work on an industrial metal-inspired album, under the band name of 2wo (Two).

The subsequent album (Voyeurs) was recorded at Trent Reznors NOLA studio (Nine Inch Nails) and was released on Reznor's Nothing Records label, under the parent company Interscope Records (Universal).

The album was not a commercial hit but did produce one video, made by director Chi Chi LaRue, for the first single "I am a Pig".

It featured some S&M scenes and so was not widely broadcast, but the video was not banned as has been previously rumored.

The band embarked on a world tour and were part of the Ozzfest lineup, but the tour was pulled and 2wo disbanded.

Regarding how he came to meet Roth, in Guitarist Magazine, Lowery relates that, "when I was little, my dream was to play with David Lee Roth. One day I was sitting at my friend's house and... I wonder[ed] what... Roth is doing now. [In 1997, Roth had just been let go from Van Halen for a second time in favor of Gary Cherone, and also penned a tongue-in-cheek memoir.]. I'm gonna call up his manager and see if he needs any songs."

John 5 submitted six tracks that he had written to Roth's management.

Having been a longtime fan of David Lee Roth's work, both in Van Halen and as a solo artist, Lowery believed that he knew exactly what Roth would like.

On hearing Lowery's songs, Roth was very impressed and subsequently asked for Lowery to submit several more songs.

At the time, Roth was choosing between Lowery and Mike Hartman as to who would play lead guitar.

His stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth's solo band and joined the rock band Marilyn Manson as their guitarist, taking over for Zim Zum.

Still going by the name John 5, Lowery became the guitarist for Rob Zombie in addition to his continued collaborations with musical artists across many genres.

In 2022, John 5 left Rob Zombie and became the touring lead guitarist for Mötley Crüe, being promoted to a full member the following year.

Arguably, John 5's first truly "big break" came when he was selected by former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth to play lead guitar on the critically well-received 1998 release DLR Band.

(Lowery would also play bass on the album under the moniker, "B'urbon Bob".) Hartman would die a short time later in 2000 of Cystic Fibrosis.

Impressed by John 5's prodigious skill, Roth scheduled a meeting and then scheduled a recording session that lasted two weeks and resulted in the fourteen track DLR Band album.

"I remember before we started, he [David Lee Roth] said, 'If you can't do it in two takes, you can't do it.'"

In 2003, while still lead guitarist for Marilyn Manson, Lowery (then called John 5) was invited by David Lee Roth to write and record the single non-cover song for Roth's 2003 album Diamond Dave.

After the recording of Mechanical Animals, Marilyn Manson was again looking for a guitarist to replace Zim Zum who had been dismissed from the band during the recording process.

He is also a solo artist having recorded ten guitar albums: Vertigo (2004), Songs for Sanity (2005), The Devil Knows My Name (2007), Requiem (2008), The Art of Malice (2010), God Told Me To (2012), Careful With That Axe (2014), Season of the Witch (2017), Invasion (2019), and Sinner (2021).

He also has a remix album, Remixploitation (2009), and live albums It's Alive (2018) and Live Invasion (2020).

His stage name was given to him by Manson and refers to both the Bible chapter and him being the fifth member of Manson's band.

Lowery is a native of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

He first started playing guitar at seven years of age after watching Buck Owens and Roy Clark's television show Hee Haw with his father.

Specifically, Lowery recalls seeing a young Jimmy Henley playing banjo that drew his inspiration.

His parents supported his playing as long as it did not interfere with his education.

He also took guitar lessons from Detroit guitarist Robert Gillespie who taught him classic blues and rock 'n' roll.

They also accompanied him at the adult bars he would play during the evening.

His early musical influences came from the Monkees, Kiss, guitarists Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Jimi Hendrix, Yngwie Malmsteen, and country music.

He actually chipped a tooth trying to imitate Jimi Hendrix playing "The Star Spangled Banner" on the guitar.

Lowery started his career as a session guitarist having moved to Los Angeles from Michigan at age 17.

His first band in L.A. was Alligator Soup, which led to an important meeting with Rudy Sarzo from Whitesnake who recruited Lowery for his band Sun King giving him his first real bit of exposure.

This also saw him meeting producer Bob Marlette, who has worked with, among others, Tracy Chapman, Alice Cooper, Rob Halford and Black Sabbath.

Lowery began working on numerous projects with Marlette including television show soundtracks, movie soundtracks including Speed 2: Cruise Control, and commercials and infomercials.

This in turn saw Lowery being picked to play with Lita Ford, opening up for Kiss.

He started another long time friendship with the various Kiss members, including a close friendship with Paul Stanley which resulted in his guesting on Stanley's Live to Win album.

Lowery's next role saw him working with Randy Castillo, in the short-lived projects Bone Angels and Red Square Black, who issued the Square EP via Zoo/BMG.

The band disbanded when Lowery was picked to play with k.d. lang on tour.