John 5 dropped a playful Instagram post this week, giving followers a casual look at his downtime between shows. The caption read: “Doing some Pickin while Igor does some lickin” – a cheeky nod to a guitar session shared with his pet Igor. It pulled in 5,661 likes.
For fam who need the quick backstory – John 5 is the lead guitarist for Rob Zombie, a job he’s held since 2004. Before that, he put in years with Marilyn Manson, working through the height of that band’s cultural moment in the late ’90s and early 2000s. His real name is John William Lowery. He’s well respected in guitar circles for his technique. He blends country fingerpicking with hard rock shredding in a way few players can pull off. He’s been doing it for decades.
Onstage, John 5 is pure intensity. Rob Zombie shows are elaborate horror productions. Think costumes. Fog machines. Theatrical lighting. Stage sets designed to feel like a B-movie come to life. John 5 is right in the middle of it all, shredding through riffs with precision. Seeing him chill at home with a guitar and a pet is a completely different side of the guy.
The pet’s name deserves its own moment. Igor. For someone who built a career in Gothic, horror-adjacent music, naming a pet Igor is the most on-brand move possible. It fits his whole world perfectly – the music, the stage persona, all of it. There’s really no other name that works.
John 5 has been one of the more active guitarists on social media. His page mixes technical guitar content – technique videos, gear breakdowns, backstage clips from tour – with lighter personal moments like this one. He’s also kept a steady YouTube presence, posting playing clips and tutorial content that show his full range as a player. That consistent output is a big reason his following stays strong.
It’s worth noting that John 5 has built a cross-genre fan base over the years. Rock fans know him from his Rob Zombie work. Guitar enthusiasts follow him for his playing style. There’s even a corner of his audience that found him through Nashville session credits. A funny home post cuts across all those groups. Nobody needs extra context to enjoy a caption about a pet named Igor.
The word “pickin” in that caption is worth a pause. John 5 spent time doing session work in Nashville early in his career, and that fingerpicking technique became central to his identity as a player. His style isn’t just heavy metal with some country thrown in. Nashville roots are baked into how he plays. Dropping “pickin” in a funny pet caption is casual. It’s also an accidental flex for anyone tracking his career.
Rob Zombie has kept the band active with a steady live schedule over the past couple of years. John 5 has been right there, logging stage time at arenas and festivals across the country. The Rob Zombie live experience is one of the more theatrical productions in rock right now, and John 5 is a key part of making that work. A low-key Instagram post from home feels like a necessary exhale between dates.
The 5,661 likes show these personal posts land well with his audience. Not every post needs a big reveal to connect.
Some posts are built for announcements. This one was built for a laugh. A guitarist at home with his instrument and a pet named Igor – that’s a pretty great afternoon. And fam, that’s really all the occasion this one needed.
This story originally appeared on Celebrityinsider
