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Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil is opening up about the major health scare that put the band on hold.
Last Christmas, Neil suffered a stroke so severe his doctors didn’t believe he’d be able to walk again, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a new interview.
“I had a stroke,” he explained. “My whole left side went out.”
VINCE NEIL DELAYS MÖTLEY CRÜE’S LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY DUE TO ‘REQUIRED MEDICAL PROCEDURE’
Vince Neil, shown here during a June 2024 performance, suffered a stroke last Christmas. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
The rocker said that when he went to bed on the night of Dec. 25, he felt fine. He woke up the next morning and went to get out of bed, but found that he wasn’t able to do so.
“I had to learn to walk again, and that was tough,” he told the outlet. “The doctors said they didn’t think I’d be able to go back on stage again. I go, ‘No, no, I’m gonna do it. Watch and see.’”
Neil said the first step of his recovery involved the band, saying, “Mötley canceled the first part of the (residency) so I could get better.”
In March, Mötley Crüe pushed back dates of their Las Vegas residency to this fall, explaining that the change in schedule was “due to a required medical procedure recently advised by vocalist Vince Neil’s doctors.”
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Mötley Crüe debuted on the heavy metal scene in the early ’80s. (Getty Images)
During that time, Neil focused on physical therapy, which he did from his Nashville home.
“I went from people carrying me to the bathroom, because I couldn’t walk myself, finally to a wheelchair,” he said. “I graduated to a walker, and then I had a cane. Now I don’t need anything. But it’s like a full-time job getting back to where you feel good again.”
He added, “It takes a while to get your brain to start moving your legs, for them to do what your brain wants to do. You try to walk but it doesn’t come out right.”
Vince Neil said doctors told him he likely wouldn’t be able to walk again. (Chris Putnam/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Neil said his recovery, which later involved working out with a football coach and “a lot of running,” has been “tough,” but he’s doing well now.
“I’m back, I’m 90, 95% to where I was before, and it’s going to be great,” he said.
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Neil first returned to the stage in August, performing at MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston with Bret Michaels. On Friday, he and the rest of Mötley Crüe played the first rescheduled show of their Las Vegas residency.
Ahead of the concert, Neil told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the show’s set list is “extensive, with some deep cuts, but the songs that fans want to hear.”
Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil, bass player Nikki Sixx and guitarist Mick Mars perform onstage at the Joe Louis Arena on July 20, 1987, in Detroit, Michigan. (Ross Marino)
The band played hits like “Dr. Feelgood,” “Kickstart My Heart” and “Girls, Girls, Girls” during the show.
“It takes you through the full Mötley Crüe lifestyle,” Neil said. “I am going to push through the best I can.”
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