Mötley Crüe Singer Vince Neil Reveals He Suffered A Stroke, Had To Learn To Walk Again

Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil has revealed that he suffered a stroke last Christmas, which resulted in the postponement of the band’s US shows earlier this year.

Following the stroke, Neil had to re-learn how to walk, and was told by doctors that he’d never perform on stage again. The band just began playing a residency in Las Vegas, which ends in early October.

Neil opened up about his previously undisclosed medical condition that was the reason for postponing the band’s shows in a new interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I had a stroke,” he shared. “My whole left side went out… I had to learn to walk again, and that was tough. 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 went on to perform on stage in August, when he played a solo show in Boston. As Consequence Of Sound notes, he told the audience of his return, “They said I wouldn’t be back on stage again.

“I said, ‘Fuck that, man.’ And I’m back, and I’m with you guys tonight. And I’m really proud to be here, man.”

The interview also featured Neil discussing the changes in his condition, from being carried by people to the bathroom to using a wheelchair, then a walker, a cane, and eventually walking by himself.

“I went from people carrying me to the bathroom, because I couldn’t walk myself, finally to a wheelchair,” he explained. “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 continued, “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.”

Neil explained that he’s recently been doing “a lot of running,” an experience that’s been “tough” but has helped him return to 90/95% of where he was before. “I am going to push through the best I can,” he said of performing with the band once more.

Mötley Crüe returned to Australia in November 2023, when they shared the stage with Def Leppard on a massive national tour in stadiums.

Reviewing the band’s performance at Suncorp Stadium, The Music’s Liv Dunford wrote, “As they played the last notes of The Dirt, the title track from their 2019 Netflix rockumentary, the band hurled into a chaotic mashup medley of 70s punk royalty, including the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK and the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop. It was certainly unexpected and certainly one of the highlights of the entire night.”