Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil says Van Halen’s David Lee Roth shared helpful advice with him early on his career with his own famous band.
Videos by American Songwriter
In an interview Friday (January 19) with SiriusXM host Eddie Trunk, Neil recalled Roth would come to see Mötley Crüe frequently when the band played such famous Los Angeles-area clubs as The Troubadour and the Whisky a Go Go.
[Buy Mötley Crüe Concert Tickets]
“Dave was right there, because we got all the girls,” Neil noted.
The singer also remembered that Roth took him “under his wing,” and imparted some tips about succeeding in the music business.
“I was just some club-playing rock ‘n’ roll guy,” Neil told Trunk. “He took me out to Canter’s Deli on Fairfax [in Los Angeles]. And he just sat me down and talked about what … you got to look for in a record company, publishing, and just kind of like filled my head with the inner workings of being in a rock ‘n’ roll band.”
[RELATED: Mötley Crüe Open ‘Doors’ to the Band’s Virtual Museum, The Crüeseum]
“[T]hat was really nice of him. I was nobody,” Neil said.
Neil Used to Sell Bootleg Van Halen T-Shirts
Receiving advice from Roth must have been especially meaningful to Neil; as as a teenager, he used to make money selling bootleg Van Halen T-shirts outside of the band’s concerts.
“My mom would drive me to, I remember, the Long Beach area,” Neil shared. “Van Halen was playing there, and I didn’t get in, but … I was bootlegging T-shirts. I was the kid out there selling shirts out of my mom’s trunk.”
The enterprising Neil, who was 15 at the time, said he had the shirts printed up himself.
Mötley Crüe’s 2024 Tour Plans
As previously reported, Mötley Crüe will be hitting the road a little later this year. The band currently has seven confirmed concerts on the books for 2024.
The shows are scheduled for May 3 and 4 in Atlantic City, New Jersey; May 9 at the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida; June 21 at Summerfest in Milwaukee; July 11 in Calgary, Canada; July 13 at the Ottawa Bluesfest in Ottawa, Canada; and July 19 at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, North Dakota.
Tickets for the shows are available now via various outlets, including StubHub. At StubHub, orders are 100% guaranteed through the site’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
