JOHN 5 Says VINCE NEIL 'Sang Incredible' During MÖTLEY CRÜE's 2025 Las Vegas Residency

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 spoke about the band's upcoming "The Return Of Carnival Of Sins" tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of CRÜE's groundbreaking 2005-2006 "Carnival Of Sins" tour and the 45th anniversary of the band. The 33-city Live Nation-produced trek will kick off on July 17, 2026 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania at the Pavilion at Star Lake and will feature support acts EXTREME and TESLA. John 5 said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, they're putting [the show] together [right now]. So I'm as excited as you. I'm super, super excited."

He continued: "Listen, I always love being on stage with the CRÜE, playing those songs, being with the guys, having a great time. We just all laugh and have such a good time together. To me, there's nothing like playing shows in the summertime. There's nothing like it. It's my favorite thing to do in the world. It's like heavy metal summer camp. And, of course, being with TESLA and EXTREME, you can't ask for anything more… Again, seriously, I know it's kind of silly to say, but it is kind of like heavy metal summer camp. Everybody is hanging out and eating and drinking and listening to good music, and it's just a blast. And I'm so lucky. It is truly one of my favorite things to do, is play shows in the summertime."

After MikeZ noted that he is "really excited about seeing Vince Neil on stage again after the MÖTLEY CRÜE singer's recent health issues, John 5 said: "Listen, please do me a favor. Please, please, please, do me a favor, and anybody watching this — go [and watch YouTube clips of MÖTLEY CRÜE's performances during the 2025 Las Vegas residency] and listen to how great Vince did at the Vegas residency. Listen to 'Home Sweet Home', listen to any of these songs. He sang incredible — incredible — and I was so proud of him. He really did a great job."

As for a possible setlist for MÖTLEY CRÜE's 2026 tour and how it will be different from what the band has played before, John 5 said: "I am super excited to hear, 'cause I'm, like, 'Just tell me what you wanna do.' 'Cause I know all the songs, and I said, 'Just tell me.' And literally, before this interview, I was, like, 'God, when are they gonna pick those songs?' So I am waiting, and I'm so excited. So, yeah, I know there's gonna be a couple of different songs in there. So I can't, can't wait."

John 5 went on to name a couple of deeper cuts that he would like to see performed on the upcoming tour. "If I was gonna pick — I love 'Red Hot'," he said. "I love 'Piece Of Your Action'. I love 'Bastard'. I love 'Too Young To Fall In Love'… I mean, I can go on and on and on."

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx addressed Vince's health during an appearance on the November 25, 2025 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". The band's Las Vegas residency shows at Dolby Live at Park MGM had initially been set for the spring of 2025 but were rescheduled after the singer revealed he had suffered a stroke around Christmas in 2024. Nikki said: "I'm proud of him, the fact that he had the courage to get up there. And when the whole thing went down and he had the stroke and we had to cancel the first residency, there was doubt. We didn't know, like, is he going to recover from this? And I know he had fear. But you put the time in, and there's a lot of stuff that you can do.

"Your health is everything," Sixx explained. "I don't care how big your band is. I don't care how big of a star you are. I don't care how wealthy you tell people you are. If you don't have your health, you've really got nothing.

"We've worked all these years, 40 years together, and been touring the world, and now it's something that could literally make it so he could never get on stage again," Nikki added. "So the fact that he did get on stage… And I'm appreciative that he went out and talked about [his health scare in a couple of interviews recently], because there's a lot of people that when stuff goes wrong in their life — and I could just speak about myself with addiction — people either write them off or they can't survive it. They can't survive it. And we were there, and we were there the whole time along, talking to him and him focusing on doctors and health and stuff. And we spent a lot of time in rehearsal to give him that opportunity to really get that muscle in shape, the vocal cords. And I was so happy. It just sounded so good. And it felt good."

During a September 15, 2025 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", John 5 was asked how he, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee and Sixx felt Neil would perform less than a year after his health scare. John 5 said: "Well, we didn't really know, but when we got into rehearsal, we were, like, 'Oh. He's moving good.' And then he started singing, and we were, like, 'Oh my God, he's singing great, actually.' So I don't know what happened, but he is — I've been in the band for three years now, and he's singing so well. I'm, like, 'Wow, this is incredible.' And he looks great. And I just go into his room all the time and tell him how proud I am of him. Because in the [Las Vegas Review-Journal] interview [where Vince first revealed his stroke], he said, yeah, he had to learn how to walk again and all that stuff. I mean, that's serious stuff. So maybe he was just, like, 'Oh, okay, and then just everything clicked. I mean, he's killing it. And there's no tracks or anything like that. He's just singing great… When I heard 'Home Sweet Home', I was, like, 'Holy shit. This is really, really great.' So I'm just so proud of him. And the guys in the band were, like, 'This is some of the best shows we've ever done.' So, we're super, super excited."

In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, John 5 stated about CRÜE's latest Vegas residency: "The real magic was Vince Neil. What he went through and his struggles and how he performed and how he sang, I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. He did such a great job, and I was so proud of him because I knew what hell he went through, and I was so happy for the guy. What he said — he even said it — he was in a wheelchair and then he had to learn how to walk again. And I was, like, 'Oh my God.' The struggle and how terrifying that must have been. So that was the real magic of that residency. And I'm telling you right now — every single show was amazing. There wasn't a bad show. And I listen and I read those comments and I listen and I'm so focused in on every show. And every show was awesome. I was so proud of him."

Asked if there was a point, in his mind, when he found out what happened to Vince, that he thought he might never be able to play with MÖTLEY CRÜE again, John 5 said: "Well, I wasn't sure. Nobody really knew anything. And I would text with Vince, and he would say, 'Oh, I'm doing good, I'm doing good,' and things like that. But no one really knew what was going on. You heard rumblings. So it was wild."

A couple of months after Vince's health scare, MÖTLEY CRÜE announced that its residency at Sin City's Dolby Live at Park MGM — originally set to run March 28, 2025 through April 19, 2025 — had been delayed until September 2025. At the time, MÖTLEY CRÜE's statement said only that the singer required a "medical procedure." The CRÜE also canceled May 2025's planned performance at Maryland's Boardwalk Rock festival.

In September 2025, Vince revealed that he had actually had a series of strokes before he suffered the "big one" in his sleep Christmas night of 2024, rendering him unable to get out of bed when he woke up the next day. Speaking to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" on September 24, 2025, Neil said he'd 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."

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." Neil added that you can have a small stroke and not even realize it.

When MÖTLEY CRÜE originally postponed the Las Vegas residency, the band said it was because Neil needed a "medical procedure," but offered no further details. Neil told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" 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."