Def Leppard Guitarist on Vince Neil’s Awful Vocal Performance: “He’s Got a Year To Go”
In case you missed it, Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil’s first live performance in over a year — at a show in Iowa with his solo band — did not go well, to say the least. The singer was audibly winded just a few songs into the set (standard procedure for him over the past 20 years or so) and eventually ditched his band on stage before what we can only guess was the set-closer, “Girls, Girls, Girls,” telling the audience, “My fuckin’ voice is gone” and wishing everyone well while his band finished the tune.
Crüe were slated for a massive stadium tour with Def Leppard last summer, you may remember, which has now been moved to 2022 on account of the pandemic. In the run-up to that tour, the band, their management, and even Neil himself, acknowledging his reputation, made assurances that he’d be in fighting shape by the time the tour rolled around. But even if he had been putting in all the work early last year — a claim about which many of us were skeptical — he clearly let it all go during the lockdown.
Neil’s tourmate, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen, has now chimed in on the matter. Collen, who is a model of physical fitness at 63 years old, and whose singer, Joe Elliott, still gets it done live, gave Neil the benefit of the doubt, saying the Crüe vocalist has got a full year to get his act together.
Speaking with The Jeremy White Podcast, Collen responded to a question asking whether he’d seen the footage by saying:
“I heard about it. Hey, look, he’s got a year [to get ready for ‘The Stadium Tour’]. There’s a lot at stake when you go out [on tour], and you wanna be your best. Hopefully we’ll be working out together and all that stuff. That’s the other thing — we do have a camaraderie, especially with Mötley Crüe. With Nikki [Sixx], we were talking just before the tour [was announced], like, ‘We’re gonna work out together. We’re gonna do all this stuff.’
“One of the things I learned from touring with KISS is that they really go a hundred percent about the show and every aspect of the show, [including when] different bands are touring together. Our crews would be working together on the KISS tour so the show would look great. And I do feel a thing with that. If the show is even better [for the other band], then it’s even better for all of us; you want that to happen.
“With Vince, he’s got a year to go. Hopefully everything is cool by then. I hope so. Fingers crossed.”
We hope so too, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of fans who have paid top dollar for tickets. Get it together, man!
Dates:
6/16 – Atlanta, GA @ Suntrust Park [Tickets]
6/18 – Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium [Tickets]
6/19 – Orlando, FL @ Camping World Stadium [Tickets]
6/22 – Washington, DC @ Nationals Park [Tickets]
6/24 – Queens, NY @ Citi Field [Tickets]
6/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park [Tickets]
6/28 – Charlotte, NC @ Bank Of America Stadium [Tickets]
6/30 – Nashville, TN @ Nissan Stadium [Tickets]
7/2 – Jacksonville, FL @ TIAA Bank Field [Tickets]
7/5 – St. Louis, MO @ Busch Stadium [Tickets]
7/8 – Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field [Tickets]
7/10 – Detroit, MI @ Comerica Park [Tickets]
7/12 – Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium [Tickets]
7/14 – Cleveland, OH @ First Energy Stadium [Tickets]
7/15 – Cincinnati, OH @ Great American Ballpark [Tickets]
7/17 – Milwaukee, WI @ American Family Field [Tickets]
7/19 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Stadium [Tickets]
7/21 – Denver, CO @ Coors Field [Tickets]
8/5 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park [Tickets]
8/6 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Parl [Tickets]
8/10 – Buffalo, NY @ New Era Field [Tickets]
8/12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PNC Park [Tickets]
8/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ U.S. Bank Stadium [Tickets]
8/19 – Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park [Tickets]
8/21 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome [Tickets]
8/22 – Arlington, TX @ Globe Life Park [Tickets]
8/27 – Inglewood, CA @ Sofi Stadium [Tickets]
8/28 – San Diego, CA @ Petco Park [Tickets]
8/31 – Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park [Tickets]
9/7 – San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Park [Tickets]
