Justin Lyons is Machine Gun Kelly’s New Guitarist

Tapped by producer/drummer Travis Barker, Justin Lyons (BLACKPINK) begins a new journey with the MGK crew. See photos from the band’s DFW performance below.

Recently, Dallas guitarist Justin Lyons came to the Toyota Music Factory with Machine Gun Kelly, the artist he’s been touring with the last few months.

The last time you would’ve seen the Oak Cliff native perform on a major stage in DFW was 2019, with either K-pop phenomenon BLACKPINK or with Blink-182 and Lil’ Wayne.

Blink-182’s Travis Barker, who produced Machine Gun Kelly’s most recent albums, and Lyons remained in touch since that 2019 tour. A few months ago, Barker called Lyons to see if he was available for Machine Gun Kelly’s 2021 Tickets to My Downfall tour. One can only assume it’s Lyons’ playing style and stage presence that came to Barker’s mind. (P.S. Justin talks about that 2019 show in our podcast—give it a listen!).

A few days after the tour began, Lyons performed at the VMAs with MGK, who later received an award for best music video. Earlier this month, they also played both ACL weekends.

For everything you might have read or heard about MGK’s music/style/personal life/etc., he seems to show so much respect and sincere gratitude for his fans of all ages, whether it’s playing guitar with kids or taking pictures with teenagers.

MGK delivered a high-energy performance, interacting with the crowd, climbing onto amps—and all despite the mushroom he said he consumed before walking onto the stage.

To learn more about Justin, listen to our exclusive interview on Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.