Guitar Hero 5 Cheats for the Nintendo Wii

Unlock all songs, characters, and more

young man playing Guitar Hero
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Guitar Hero 5 is the fifth main entry in the popular music rhythm video game franchise. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2009. Like other games in the series, it lets players mimic musical performances using a plastic controller shaped like a guitar. That controller is also used to enter cheat codes. It's possible to unlock all songs, characters, and special modes by beating the game's many challenges. We'll show you how to do it.

The following cheats are for Guitar Hero 5 on Nintendo Wii, but there are also cheats available for Guitar Hero 5 on PS2 and Guitar Hero 5 for Xbox 360.

Guitar Hero 5 Cheat Codes

Cheat codes are entered through the game's cheat menu using the colored buttons on the guitar controller. The letters in the codes below stand for their respective colors:

  • R = Red
  • B = Blue
  • G = Green
  • Y = Yellow
Effect Cheat Code
Air instruments. R, R, B, Y, G, G, G, Y
Unlock all hammer-ons and pull-offs (HOPOs). G, G, B, G, G, G, Y, G
Always slide. G, G, R, R, Y, B, Y, B
Auto kick. Y, G, R, B, B, B, B, R
Contest winner 1. G, G, R, R, Y, R, Y, B
Enable Focus mode. Y, G, R, G, Y, B, G, G
Turn off heads-up display. G, R, G, G, Y, G, G, G
Enable invisible characters. G, R, Y, Y, Y, B, B, G
Enable performance mode. Y, Y, B, R, B, G, R, R
Unlock all characters. B, B, G, G, R, G, R, Y

You don't need a cheat code to unlock all songs. Unlock the Wormhole as described below to play any song in the Quick Play venue.

How to Unlock Secret Characters

Play as the following characters by meeting certain requirements:

Character Requirement
Carlos Santana Complete the song "No One To Depend On (Live)" on any difficulty, any instrument.
Johnny Cash Complete the song "Ring of Fire" on any difficulty, any instrument.
Kurt Cobain Complete the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on any difficulty, any instrument.
Matt Bellamy Complete the song "Plug in Baby" on any instrument on any difficulty.
Shirley Manson Complete the song "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" on any difficulty, any instrument.

More Guitar Hero 5 Unlockables

If you don't want to use cheat codes, you can unlock everything in the game by completing challenges.

Unlockable Requirement
Auto-kick Hit 200 non-cymbal notes on "Mirror People" in the Angel's Crypt venue (fills don't count).
Focus Mode Hit 265 tom notes on "Brainstorm" in The Golden Gate venue as a drummer.
HUD-Free Mode Get Excellent on 75 consecutive phrases in "Bring The Noise 20XX" as a vocalist in the Neon Oasis venue.
Performance Mode Get a band multiplier for 42 seconds on "Bleed American" in the Aqueduct venue.
Wormhole (Quickplay venue) Get a 4X multiplier for 50 seconds on "Play That Funky Music" as a guitarist in the Sideshow.