John 5 is best known for his work with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson’s bands, although he has also worked with many other musicians, including Lynyrd Skynyrd. John 5 collaborated with the band in the studio, co-writing six of the twelve songs on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 2009 album ‘God & Guns.’ ‘Floyd,’ a track from the album, stuck out to Johnny Van Zant. In a 2009 interview with The 9513, the leader explained how their paths intersected with John and how the song came to be. Johnny elaborated: “We know John 5 [John William Lowery], who plays with Rob Zombie.” He once shared the stage with Marilyn Manson. We were in Nashville looking for new individuals to write with when a friend recommended John. When he walks into the room for the first time, he appears strange. But we take a glance around and decide, “OK, we’re all up for that.” Before the two became friends, Johnny felt John 5 was a ‘weird.’ He stated, ” “He strolled in wearing a fuzzy kind of hood and make-up. It was completely different from us. ‘Man, you’re a weirdo,’ I murmured as I gazed at him. John 5 countered with a clever counter-attack, saying: “‘Man, I was thinking the same thing about you.
‘” (Laughter) As a result, we hit it off and became fast friends. “And the first song we wrote was ‘Floyd.'” The leader of went on to describe John 5’s guitar skills and the licks he came up with; he continued: “This guy is an incredible guitarist.” He can play any instrument. He is capable of playing both country and rock music. He has an incredible talent. I can’t say enough good things about him. You should never judge a book by its cover. He came up with the lick himself. And we just started playing with him. It just popped out as ‘Floyd,’ and it had a wonderful old swampy vibe to it.” Regarding John’s talent, Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, who participated in the collaboration, provided Billboard his thoughts on what the guitarist added to the single and the album. He stated, ” “With John 5, we’ve been doing a lot of writing.” ‘Everyone thought to themselves, my God, you’re going to write with this guy? ‘How can that possibly work?’ But this man comes in and is extremely brilliant in every genre.” Zant also mentioned Rob Zombie, who came out and contributed vocals to the track. According to the singer: “Of course, given [John 5’s] relationship with Rob, we asked if he’d like to sing any of this with us.” He’s in charge of all the movies and Halloween specials. ‘Sure, let’s do it,’ he said. Rob deserves my admiration. He was in the middle of directing a new Halloween film that was about to be released. And he came into the studio to sing on this stuff. It’s fantastic.”
