Vince Neil
Biography
"I told them about you bro. They saw you and they're stoked," admitted Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee to future lead vocalist Vince Neil the night the band came out to see the bleached blonde singer perform with his band Rock Candy at the famed Hollywood nightclub, Starwood. Neil, however, was apprehensive at first as he was very happy with his current band but agreed to an audition the next weekend as to not hurt Lee's feelings. The singer was quickly ushered into the band, and for the next decade they embarked on a heavy metal odyssey full of music, mayhem, and four consecutive multi-platinum albums.
Born Vince Neil Wharton on February 8, 1961, in Hollywood, CA, Neil was the focal point of the band with his long blonde hair and screeching vocal style. While not a schooled vocalist, Neil definitely looked the part. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, he epitomized the carefree California "surfer dude" image, which was, at the time, the ideal persona for a heavy metal front man (à la David Lee Roth).
After Neil joined Mötley Crüe in 1981, the band recorded the self-produced album Too Fast for Love, which attracted the attention of Elektra Records' Tom Zutaut.
Selected Discography
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