After almost 20 years of the incident, John 5 has discussed the actual reason behind their fight with Marilyn Manson at the 2003 Rock Am Ring festival.

During a recent appearance on Eddie Trunk’s SiriusXM show, he was asked about the incident and gave more details as to what fans saw onstage as they were about to perform “Beautiful People.”

“What happened was my sister passed away, my sister died unexpectedly. And I was shocked. I was in Europe and I was coming down the stairs, off a stage after a concert, and they told me my sister died. And I was in a state of shock; you just go into a state of shock,” he stated.

He continued to stay “Here’s the strange thing that happened to me,” he continued. “I didn’t sleep for days and days and days. It was the strangest thing. I just wasn’t tired. And I remember going to the band members’ rooms, going, ‘I can’t sleep. I just can’t sleep. I haven’t slept in now two days’ or blah blah blah.

“So anyways, fast forward to the [Rock Am Ring] show. Now, what Manson did, that happened all the time. He didn’t do anything wrong. I just snapped. It was weird. I went nuts. I didn’t even remember. I just snapped,” he confessed.

He also recalled that Manson was telling him to pick up his guitar to continue on but thought he said “Come on, come on.” John 5 admitted that regrets it and feels terrible.  He eventually left the band and mentioned that both were on different paths after the amicable split.

John 5 and the Creatures are set to begin their North American tour, kicking off April 19 in Redding, California.

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz