JOHN 5 Doesn't Think 'NAMM Show' Will Last More Than Another Five Years

December 26, 2021

ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 and TWISTED SISTER guitarist Eddie Ojeda were guests on a recent episode of the "Hangin' & Bangin': Artists On Lockdown" online show, where they were joined by Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO),Carmine Appice (OZZY OSBOURNE, VANILLA FUDGE) and host Ron Onesti. During the wide-ranging chat, they discussed the recent announcement by producers of the annual music convention NAMM Show that its normal January date was being postponed to June 3-5, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each year, over 100,000 musicians, instrument makers, vendors, educators and more from all over the world come together in Anaheim to celebrate the latest in entertainment technology during the NAMM (which stands for National Association of Music Merchants) event, which is not open to the general public.

John 5 said: "I think personally that… NAMM's been going on since around, like, 1955 or '56, but you know what? I don't think NAMM's gonna last much longer, you guys. I know it sounds terrible to say. And not because of coronavirus or anything like that. But I just think it's so expensive to put on for these companies. I really don't think it's gonna hold on much longer. What do I know? But just seeing how things are going, probably another five years or something."

Ojeda chimed in: "Like John said, it's very expensive. I'm friends with the Ash brothers, and it cost them like a half million dollars to do NAMM."

Continued John 5: "If you guys think about [it], when they had this lockdown, they were still selling instruments. And they probably made the same amount of money and probably saved some money just by not doing NAMM. Who knows?"

The largest NAMM Show in the history of the organization took place in January 2020, when the Show welcomed 115,888 members and industry professionals and more than 7,000 brands. The show also hosted 350 professional development sessions, numerous live events, networking opportunities and concerts each evening on the Grand Plaza, as presented by Yamaha.

With the move of the 2022 NAMM Show to June, the organization has decided not to hold Summer NAMM in Nashville, Tennessee, for the 2022 year, effectively combining the two shows.

"The move from January to June next year is due 100 percent to the pandemic, and there was a big likelihood we would have had to cancel our January 2022 show," NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond told the San Diego Union-Tribune this past September.

The 2021 NAMM Show became the first in the 120-year-old nonprofit business organization's history to be held entirely online.

The global music equipment and technology industry had revenues of $17.3 billion in 2019, with U.S. sales accounting for nearly $8 billion. The total U.S. revenues for 2020 was $7.21 billion.

Find more on John 5
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).