MÖTLEY CRÜE's JOHN 5 Says VINCE NEIL Is Singing And Looking 'Great' During Las Vegas Residency: 'He's Killing It'

During a September 15 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 spoke about the band's return to the stage in Las Vegas on Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13, launching CRÜE's long-awaited residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. The shows had initially been set for spring but were rescheduled after frontman Vince Neil revealed he had suffered a stroke last Christmas. Asked how he, drummer Tommy Lee and bassist Nikki Sixx felt Neil would perform less than a year after his health scare, John 5 said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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."

John 5 went on to say that the first two shows of CRÜE's residency have been "so much fun. We're all having a blast," he said. "But the one thing is me and Nikki go up on these lifts, like in [KISS's] 'Alive II' or something like that. But the lifts, they're small; they're not big at all. They're a little bit larger than a seat cushion or something like that on a couch. Then you have this metal thing that comes around. So I get on this lift, and so what I do is I wrap my arm around the little metal part and play guitar like this, because you're so high up. But most of the time they strap you in, but we're not strapped in. We just are holding on to this bar. So we're playing 'Kickstart My Heart', and then I'm, like, 'Oh, okay.' Everything's going really good. Then the confetti goes, boom, and all this confetti… I can't see a thing. I'm, like, KISS 'Alive II', in the inner sleeve. It's just raining confetti. I'm, like, okay, just balance. Try to figure out what you're playing."

The residency, which was originally scheduled for March 28 - April 19, 2025, ended up being moved to September 2025 due to what MÖTLEY CRÜE said in March was "a required medical procedure advised by" Neil's doctors.

In the aforementioned interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Neil opened up about his previously undisclosed medical condition, saying: "I had a stroke. My whole left side went out… I had to learn to walk again, and that was tough. 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.'"

Neil continued: "I went from people carrying me to the bathroom, because I couldn't walk myself, finally to a wheelchair. I graduated to a walker, and then I had a cane. Now I don't need anything. But it's like a full-time job getting back to where you feel good again."

Vince added: "It takes a while to get your brain to start moving your legs, for them to do what your brain wants to do. You try to walk but it doesn't come out right."

The 64-year-old singer said that he worked with a football coach in Nashville, where Neil resides, and has been "doing a lot of running," adding, "It's been tough, but I'm back, I'm 90, 95 percent to where I was before, and it's going to be great."

Prior to Vince's August 1, 2025 concert at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, Massachusetts with his solo band, Neil hadn't performed live since hitting the stage with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

The new show dates for MÖTLEY CRÜE's Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM will take run through October 3. Tickets from the original dates will remain valid for the newly announced dates.

The CRÜE's third Vegas residency is being billed as a "tell-all show [that] will immerse the audience in the band's history, leading all the say through their record-breaking 'Stadium Tour'." They previously set up shop in Vegas in 2012 for "Mötley Crüe Takes On Sin City" and in 2013 for "Evening In Hell".

In October 2024, MÖTLEY CRÜE released a new EP, "Cancelled". Produced by Bob Rock, the EP marked the band's first release with Big Machine and included three new tracks: Top 5 Rock Radio hit "Dogs Of War" a cover of the BEASTIE BOYS' "Fight For Your Right" and the title track, "Cancelled".

This past February, Neil's Learjet aircraft was involved in a collision in Scottsdale. Vince was not on his jet when it collided with another plane in the fatal incident, leaving one dead and several hospitalized.

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.