John 5 said he once spent five hours on the hunt for an autograph from Gene Simmons – then at the last moment decided not to take it.
The incident took place when the future Motley Crue guitarist was around 13 or 14 years old, and Kiss were playing Detroit one night in the early ‘80s.
“I wanted to meet my heroes and I was waiting at the Pontchartrain Hotel,” 5 told 101 WRIF in a recent interview (video below). “I’m this little kid, skipping school; kind of preppy and all that stuff. And I’m the only one in the lobby.”
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He’d identified the correct hotel when he saw tour buses parked outside; and the scene was to become familiar to him. “I was waiting there all day — all day,” he said. He recalled thinking, “Hopefully he’ll come down and have something to eat or go get coffee… or who knows, one of the guys.”
That’s more or less how it went down. “So, here comes Gene Simmons! He was walking out of the bus into the hotel. And I had my Originals booklet… I said, ‘Mr. Simmons! Mr. Simmons!’’And he walked right by me. I’m this little kid.”
When Gene Simmons and Young John 5 Shared an Elevator
5 wasn’t going to give up, though. “And he gets in the elevator; and I was like, ‘Screw this!’ So I get in the elevator too. And he’s standing there, and I have my booklet and my little marker.”
Soon came the moment that made the day so memorable. “The elevator opens to his floor, and he goes, ‘You want me to sign that?’ And I go, ‘No, it’s okay.’ Isn’t that great?
“True story. I don’t know what it was; I was just so, like, upset… I was no threat – I was just a little kid. … I was waiting there for, like, five hours, and he goes, ‘You want me to sign that?’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s okay.’ Then the elevator shut!”
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Watch John 5’s Interview with 101 WRIF
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