Born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and picking up a guitar at the tender age of seven,
John Lowery was given the nickname
John 5 the day he joined
Marilyn Manson's band. A versatile session guitarist known for his speed as well as his keen goth fashion sense (imagine Brandon Lee in The Crow), after moving to L.A. at 18 he scored high-profile gigs touring with
Lita Ford and
k.d. lang based on his work scoring soundtracks and commercials with producer
Bob Marlette. Studio work continued, as he contributed to ex-
Judas Priest frontman
Rob Halford's industrial metal group
Two and ex-
Van Halen singer/showboat
David Lee Roth's The DLR Band album.
Initially rejected in his first audition to play guitar with
Manson,
John was asked to join
Manson on the Rock Is Dead tour, following guitarist
Zim Zum's departure. Two albums were completed with
Manson,
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) and
The Golden Age of Grotesque, before
John 5 left to pursue a solo career. His debut record,
Vertigo, was released in 2004, and that year he founded
Loser, a more radio-friendly band, with vocalist Joe Grah of
Jibe. His second album,
Songs for Sanity, followed in 2005, just as he paired up with
White Zombie's
Rob Zombie for Ozzfest.
John contributed to the majority of songs on
Zombie's 2006 release,
Educated Horses, and decided to disband
Loser to tour with
Zombie for the next year. His third outing, Devil Knows My Name, gained recognition from a guitarworld.com reader's poll, awarding him with Best Shred Album of the Year.
With albums by
Rob Zombie,
Lynyrd Skynyrd, and
Filter in the works, June of 2008 marked his fourth release, Requiem, which was promoted with a West Coast tour of the Guitar Center retail music chain. After recording
Hellbilly Deluxe 2 with
Zombie,
Lowery returned to writing instrumentals, and
The Art of Malice followed in May of 2010. He followed up in 2012 with God Told Me So, which featured both acoustic and electric songs, as well as a cover of the
Michael Jackson hit "Beat It." ~ Jason Lymangrover