Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil has been battling ongoing health issues that have forced the glam metal legends to adjust their touring schedule. In March 2025, the band announced plans to push back its Las Vegas residency six months to September. At the time, they revealed only that Neil, 64, would undergo a “required medical procedure.” One month later, Motley Crue unexpectedly canceled their headlining gig at the Boardwalk Rock Festival in Ocean City, Maryland. Now, Neil himself has revealed exactly what kept him from the stage—and why doctors thought he may never return to it again.
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Vince Neil Suffered Health Scare Last Christmas
In August 2025, Vince Neil made a triumphant return to the stage with a seven-song set at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway. It was the first time the “Kickstart My Heart” vocalist had performed live in nearly a year.
Today, fans have finally learned the full extent of Neil’s health battle. In an interview with The Las Vegas Review-Journal published Friday (Sept. 12), the legendary rocker revealed that he woke up the morning after Christmas Day 2025 to discover that he had suffered a stroke.
“My whole left side went out,” Neil said, explaining that he had felt completely normal when he went to bed on Christmas night.
Starting Over
As it turns out, Vince Neil had a pretty good reason behind his absence from the stage. He was, quite literally, learning to walk again.
“That was tough,” admitted the business owner. “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.’”
Following months of physical therapy at his Nashville home, “I went from people carrying me to the bathroom, because I couldn’t walk myself, finally to a wheelchair,” Neil said. After a lengthy recovery process, he says he is now “90-, 95-percent to where I was before.”
“I graduated to a walker, and then I had a cane. Now I don’t need anything,” he added. “But it’s like a full-time job getting back to where you feel good again.”
Motley Crue will kick off their postponed residency tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern at Dolby Live at Park MGM.
Featured image by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images
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