‘This Last One, It Was a Big One’

Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil recently revealed that he suffered a stroke in his sleep on Christmas night and woke up the next day unable to get out of bed. But after telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the medical incident that delayed the metal band’s Las Vegas residency at Sin City’s Dolby Live at Park MGM by seven months, Neil, 64, has said that it was actually a series of strokes that laid him low.

Speaking to SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk on Wednesday (Sept. 24), Neil said he’s had, “four strokes throughout the years. Two of ’em I didn’t even know I had. One of ’em was a mini stroke that happened and I just lost feeling in my hand. And that was it. And I got over that pretty quickly. But then this last one, it was a big one.”

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When Trunk asked how doctors could tell that Neil had had previous strokes, the singer explained, “because they could see it in your brain. It’s scarred right around the same spot. I had four scars in my brain, and the neurologist said those are all strokes.” What Neil said he’s learned is that you can have a small stroke and not even realize it.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a stroke happens when a “blood clot or vessel prevents blood from getting to your brain.” Strokes are the second leading cause of death worldwide and the fifth most common in the U.S. Some of the most common symptoms of a stroke include aphasia (trouble speaking or loss of speech), blurry/double vision, confusion, coma, dizziness/loss of coordination, memory loss, mood swings and headaches.

When the band pushed back the Sin City residency originally slated to run from March 28-April 19 until September, they said it was because Neil needed a “medical procedure,” without any further explanation. According to a transcript of the Trunk Nation interview, Neil said that he went to sleep on Christmas night and then woke up and couldn’t get out of bed.

“I’m, like, ‘What’s going on?’ And my left leg wouldn’t work, and my left arm wouldn’t work. So I had to get help out of bed. I couldn’t push myself up to get myself comfortable in bed. And I had to have help,” he said. “And slowly but surely, the sensation came back in my legs. And I had to learn to walk again. I went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane to — I can walk now, but for five months it was just off and on, not knowing what’s gonna happen. And the doctor said that I probably wouldn’t be on stage again. And I was, like, ‘No, man. I can’t do that.’ And so I just tried. I worked my butt off to get back in shape to go on stage. And I was really sad to have to cancel those shows, but I just wasn’t ready yet. I wasn’t ready to be back on stage yet. It was really sad, but it’s really worth it now, ’cause I can get on stage and sing and all that good stuff.”

Neil — whose father died of a stroke in March 2021 — said doctors told him that he had a blood clot in his leg that ran up to his brain, with a neurologist showing him an x-ray revealing the scars on his brain from the stroke. His post-stroke regimen now includes “lots of physical therapy” with a therapist who comes to his house every day.

The Crüe will be back on stage at Dolby Live in Las Vegas on Friday (Sept. 26) and Saturday night (Sept. 27).

Watch Neil discuss his strokes with Trunk below.

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