John 5 just kicked off his first-ever full European solo tour, and if you've been sleeping on this guy's solo work, now's the time to wake up *. The Mötley Crüe guitarist launched the run on May 14, 2026 at London's Underworld, delivering a monster 20-song set that mixed his own shred compositions with covers of Queen, Eurythmics, and even some jazz standards *. Yeah, you read that right—the dude who's been tearing it up with the Crüe since replacing Mick Mars in 2022 can do way more than just riff on "Kickstart My Heart" *.
What makes this tour even cooler is that John 5 dropped his twelfth solo album, *Ghost*, back in October 2025, and the recording process was absolutely insane *. He tracked everything live with zero overdubs or punch-ins—if he screwed up, he'd start the entire song over from the beginning *. That's old-school commitment right there, and you can hear it in the playing. The album got killer reviews, and now European fans finally get to see him do his thing without sharing the stage *.
For a guy who's spent three decades working with everyone from Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson to David Lee Roth, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, and even Dolly Parton, it's wild that this is his first proper European solo run *. He's still juggling the Crüe gig—they've got U.S. summer dates lined up for 2026—but he's making time to show Europe what he's really about *. Fan-filmed footage of the entire London show is already online, and if you want to see what technical guitar mastery actually looks like, go find it *.