Vince Neil Biography

Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is an American vocalist and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.

Early life

Neil was born in Hollywood, California to Odie and Shirley Wharton. He has Mexican ancestry on his mother's side and Native American ancestry on his father's. During the 1960s, his family moved around Southern California from Inglewood to Watts, before finally settling in Glendora, attending Sunflower Intermediate School and later Royal Oak High School. As well as having an interest in music while a teenager, Neil was also interested in surfing, basketball, baseball, football and wrestling.

Music career

First stint with Mötley Crüe

Neil was discovered while performing with his band Rock Candy in 1980, and joined Mötley Crüe in 1981. Neil had been friends with Tommy Lee in high school. Mötley Crüe was looking for a lead vocalist at the time and were impressed by Neil after hearing him through Lee. Mötley Crüe released its first album, Too Fast for Love, the same year. In 1983, Mötley Crüe released Shout at the Devil, which established the band as a big act in rock and roll.

In 1985, Neil regrouped with Mötley Crüe to record Theatre of Pain. In 1987, the band recorded the album Girls, Girls, Girls. In 1989, the band released their highest-selling album, Dr. Feelgood.

Going solo

In February 1992, Mötley Crüe parted ways with Vince Neil. Neil had taken up Indy racing a few years earlier, often turning up at celebrity races. Neil enjoyed the sport so much that he eventually formed Vince Neil Racing. He was racing in the Indy Lights open wheel developmental series at the time. Neil retired from racing in 1992 after crashing his car during a race in Long Beach after the third lap.

Exposed

Neil signed a solo deal with Warner Brothers for $4 million. He received a $2 million advance on his first record.

Neil sued Mötley Crüe for 25% of their future profits and $5 million in damages for being fired.

In 1992, Neil released his first single. He stated that the song was written in twenty minutes with his friends Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw. The single "You're Invited (But Your Friend Can't Come)" was featured on the Encino Man soundtrack. Neil made a video for the song that featured a cameo by Pauly Shore. The video does not feature guitarist Steve Stevens as Stevens was hired after the song and video had been released. Stevens re-recorded the song for Neil's first solo album. Neil performed the song live on the MTV Movie Awards.

Exposed, was Neil's first solo album and was released in 1993. The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard charts. The album featured Stevens, who subsequently played all bass and guitar tracks on "Exposed", Dave Marshall, Robbie Crane, and Vik Foxx. The band eventually went on tour, opening for Van Halen.

Carved In Stone

In September 1995, Neil released Carved in Stone, an industrial-oriented album produced by the Dust Brothers. The album was recorded and was put on hold while Neil was dealing with the illness of his daughter Skylar. It sold fewer than 100,000 copies in the US, and Neil's contract with Warner Bros. Records eventually came to an end. The album was re-released in 2004.

Vince Neil has toured his solo band, which consisted of Slaughter members Jeff Blando and Dana Strum, as well as drummer Zoltan Chaney.

Reunion with Mötley Crüe

The band came back into the spotlight after their Behind the Music episode aired on VH1 in December 1998. The episode became the highest rated in the series. The DVD was issued with ten extra minutes of footage in December 1999.

By 1997, both Neil's solo career and Mötley Crüe's fortunes were declining, so he accepted their invitation to rejoin the band. They released the album Generation Swine, which debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts. Tension soon erupted within the band, however, this time prompting Tommy Lee to leave the band. The other band members replaced him with Randy Castillo and recorded the album New Tattoo in 2000. The renewed band went on hiatus when Castillo died from cancer in 2002.

Mötley Crüe released the album Saints of Los Angeles in 2008.

Tattoos & Tequila

Vince released his third solo album, Tattoos & Tequila, in 2010. It is Neil's first solo release in seven years, since the live album Live at the Whisky: One Night Only in 2003. The album is a soundtrack to the book Neil released in the same year, "Tattoos & Tequila: To Hell and Back with One of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen". Each song on the album corresponds with a chapter in the book.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In 1994, Neil gave up ownership of his "Bar One" club.

In 1998, Mötley Crüe opened a store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles called, "S"Crüe", which stocks clothes from both Sixx and Neil"s clothing lines (Outlaw and Bad Bones), along with CDs, the Mötley Brüe drink and other items. The store closed in January 1999, with the band deciding to sell the items online.

In 2006, Neil opened his own tattoo parlor called Vince Neil Ink. The shop is located on the Las Vegas Strip.

Neil founded Vince Vineyards, a winemaking venture that produced a 2003 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2003 Sonoma County Chardonnay. He also produces a limited edition Petite Sirah through EOS Estate Winery.

In 2005, Neil created the "Off The Strip Poker Tournament", which takes place in Las Vegas.

In 2007, Neil launched his own brand of tequila called Tres Rios. Neil debuted the tequila at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival in February 2007.

Neil opened Dr. Feelgood's Bar and Grill in West Palm Beach. It took over two and a half years for all of the members of Mötley Crüe to agree and sign off on the bar concept and location. It was finally determined that it would be located in downtown West Palm Beach, a stone's throw away from the ocean and within the high rent district of downtown. On January 19, 2008, Neil played a free concert on the streets of downtown West Palm Beach to celebrate the grand opening of Dr Feelgood's. In March 2009, Neil opened another Feelgood's in Miami Beach. Vince also owns a Feelgood's in Las Vegas.

Mötley Crüe were on tour in the U.S. Crüe Fest. Mötley Crüe announced that they will play the entire Dr. Feelgood album every night of Crüe Fest 2 to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary.

In 2012, Vince Neil ventured into the Gentlemen's Club business, opening Deja Vu Presents: Vince Neil's Girls Girls Girls in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Television & film

In 1990, Neil had a small part in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane playing Bobby Black, lead vocalist of the fictional rock band that consisted of Carlos Cavazo, Randy Castillo, and Phil Soussan. Opening sequences of the film featured the band playing at Red Rocks Amphitheater, where Neil's character makes a grand entrance by swooping on stage via zip-line. He then proceeds to die onstage under suspicious circumstances. Black's misfortunes continue even in death when at his funeral a mêlée takes place resulting in his cylindrical plexiglass casket rolling down a hill (obviously containing a dummy of Neil).

In 2002, Neil was one of the cast members on the first season of The Surreal Life. In 2004, Neil appeared on the special Remaking Vince Neil, which showed him trying to recharge his solo career. He also recorded the single "Promise Me" produced by Desmond Child. The song was for sale on iTunes for a brief period, but a solo album never surfaced.

Mötley Crüe's fortunes got a boost when Neil and Tommy Lee put aside their differences and toured in support of the compilation album Red, White & Crüe. The tour, dubbed Carnival of Sins, featured acrobats, fire breathers and a midget as part of the overall circus atmosphere the band created.

In 2004, Neil played a tattoo artist in an episode of the CBS sitcom Still Standing.

In 2009, Neil worked on a pilot for an A&E reality TV show. According to Neil, the program would follow him and his family after his parents moved in with him. As Neil told Eddie Trunk, "My wife [Lia] hasn't talked to my mom since the wedding," which took place January 9, 2005, in Las Vegas.

In 2010, he was cast on ABC's Skating with the Stars as a celebrity contestant who skated with professional ice skater Jennifer Wester.

In 2012, Neil participated in flight training in Henderson, Nevada for the PBS television series The Aviators, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun.

Personal life

Marriages

Neil married his first wife, Beth Lynn, in 1981; they divorced in 1985. In April 1987, Neil married Sharise Ruddell, a mud wrestler and fashion model. The couple had one daughter, Skylar, before divorcing in 1993.

In early 1993, he began dating actress and Playboy Playmate Heidi Mark after a blind date arranged by her makeup artist. The two were engaged within two months, and married in 2000. After just 15 months of marriage, and several attempts at reconciliation, they divorced in 2001.

Neil married his fourth wife, Lia Gerardini, in January 2005. The ceremony was officiated by MC Hammer, an ordained minister and fellow cast member on The Surreal Life. In 2010, Neil announced their separation.

Charity work

On August 15, 1995, Neil and Ruddell's daughter, Skylar Neil, died of cancer at the age of 4. He founded the Skylar Neil Memorial Fund in her honor. Since that time, Neil and the foundation have raised awareness and funding for various children"s illnesses. The Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation has donated millions of dollars to The T.J. Martell Foundation, and it sponsors an annual golf tournament to raise money for children with cancer. In the summer of 2011 Neil hosted a series of benefits called Rockin' The Red Carpet that benefitted MUSIC for RELIEF as part of his tour with Motley Cruë, Poison and the New York Dolls.

Legal troubles

In late 1984, Finnish hard rock band Hanoi Rocks was on their second American tour and a first one ever to reach California. The two gigs meant to be held in Los Angeles sold out in twenty minutes. On the day they arrived in Los Angeles, December 8, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley and the other members of the band (with the exception of singer Michael Monroe, who was recovering from a fractured ankle) visited Neil's home and spent the day at Redondo Beach. After partying for hours, Neil and Razzle decided to take a trip to a local liquor store in Neil's De Tomaso Pantera. Neil, who was drunk, lost control of the car and hit an oncoming vehicle. The two occupants of the other car were seriously injured and suffered brain damage, and Dingley was killed. Neil was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with the crash. His blood alcohol level was 0.17, well above the California legal limit at that time of 0.10. In July 1986, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Edward Hinz, Jr. sentenced Neil to 30 days in jail, five years probation, $2.6 million in restitution to the victims of the crash and 200 hours of community service. Neil got out of jail in 15 days for good behavior; Mötley Crüe dedicated their third studio album, Theatre of Pain, to Razzle.

Neil was arrested in 2002 for punching record producer Michael Schuman to the ground in a nightclub parking lot. Neil was ordered to pay restitution and complete community service.

In 2003, Neil was arrested again after accusations that he assaulted a sex worker at the Moonlight BunnyRanch by grabbing her around the throat and throwing her against a wall. On April 9, 2004, Neil pled no contest to battery charges and he was sentenced to a 30-day jail suspension, 60 days anger management, and was fined $1,000 plus court fees of $132.

On December 15, 2004, an arrest warrant for misdemeanor assault was issued for Neil after a fight during a show on October 30 where he left a soundman unconscious for 45 minutes. Police had given the singer a criminal-trespass warning before he left the club and headed to Houston for a Halloween show.

In 2007, Neil was arrested for suspicion of DUI in Las Vegas after police spotted him making some erratic moves in his Ferrari. Neil later worked out a deal with prosecutors where he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in exchange for them to drop the DUI charge.

In June 2010, Neil was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Las Vegas after having allegedly smashed a fan's camera and was released on $2,000 bond. On January 26, 2011, Neil plead guilty to drunk driving and was sentenced to 15 days in the Clark County jail and 15 days under house arrest.

In March 2011, Neil was charged with battery and disorderly conduct after an altercation with ex-girlfriend, Alicia Jacobs. On May 2, 2011, Neil"s attorneys plead not guilty on his behalf during an arraignment and he was ordered to stay away from Jacobs then was scheduled to appear in court on August 8. On August 8, 2011, Neil"s trial was rescheduled for November 7 due to an unexplained emergency.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	US Rock	US Indie	UK
1993	Exposed Release date: April 27, 1993 Label: Warner Bros. Records	13	"	"	44
1995	Carved in Stone Release date: September 12, 1995 Label: Warner Bros. Records	139	"	"	"
2010	Tattoos & Tequila Release date: June 22, 2010 Label: Eleven Seven Music	57	14	7	"
""" denotes releases that did not chart

Live albums

Year	Album details
2003	Live at the Whisky: One Night Only Release date: May 27, 2003 Label: Image Entertainment

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		UK
1992	"You're Invited (But Your Friend Can't Come)"	63	Exposed
1993	"Sister of Pain"	"
	"Can't Change Me"	"
	"Can't Have Your Cake"	"
1995	"Skylar's Song"	"	Carved in Stone
2005	"Promise Me"	"	Non-album song
2010	"Tattoos and Tequila"	"	Tattoos & Tequila
""" denotes releases that did not chart

Motorsport career

Along with Neil's passions of fast cars and fast women, he dabbled in motorsport in the early 1990s. This culminated in a part season in Indy Lights in 1992 with P.I.G Racing. He started four races finishing three of them and all point scoring positions. Also that year he took part in the celebrity race at the Gold Coast Indycar event.

Complete CART Indy Lights results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
1992	P.I.G Racing	PHX 12	LBH Ret	DET	POR 12	MIL 10	LOU	TOR	CLE	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS	23rd	5

See also

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards