John 5 said the hardest part of joining Motley Crue was telling Rob Zombie about the move.

The guitarist spent 17 years in the shock rocker’s band before agreeing to replace Mick Mars in Moltey Crue last year. In a recent interview on Sirius XM’s Trunk Nation, 5 said he still worried that he’d damaged his friendship with Zombie, but he’d known he needed to make the change.

“I talked to Rob, and he understood,” 5 reported. “Rob is a smart, rational person. I mean, he wasn’t psyched, but he understood. And I think that was amazing of him… he was just, like, ‘Go get ’em.’ He was fine about it.” He confirmed he’d already agreed to join the Crue, but told Zombie before it was made public. “I called Rob and I said, ‘This is what’s happening.’ And we did a show, Louder Than Life, together, and that was my last show [with Zombie… But [there] was no bad blood or anything; it wasn’t anything bad. It wasn’t dramatic or anything. And Rob was super cool. He was, like, ‘Hey, I get it.’ He was cool about it.”

He said the return of former Zombie collaborator Mike Riggs was a “great” result and that the band was “kicking ass” without him. But he noted: “I miss talking with [Zombie] and texting with him. I’m more worried about him not texting me back or not replying. I think that would really break my heart. That’s the thing. I think I’d be really bummed out about that.”

A handful of new Crue songs featuring 5 have been recorded, although no release details have been made available.

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