Since hitting fame as the lead singer of the 1980s metal band Motley Crue, Vince Neil has never shed his fast-living rock star image.
The band’s songs can tell the story of his life: “Girls, Girls, Girls,” married four times; “Dr. Feelgood,” started his own wine and tequila lines; “Kickstart My Heart,” like the lyrics say, “always got the cops coming after me.”
Neil, 55, will sing the band’s hits Saturday night at the Nez Perce County Fairgrounds (details below). Here’s a look at his life and wild times before the show.
1961 - Born Vincent Neil Wharton in Hollywood, Calif.
1981 - Nikki Sixx forms a band called Christmas with drummer Tommy Lee. They seek out other members, including Vince Neil, a singer in a Cheap Trick cover band, and rename themselves Motley Crue.
1985 - The album “Theatre of Pain” featuring “Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room” and “Home Sweet Home” is No. 6 on the charts.
1985 - Neil pleads guilty to charges of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving after a Dec. 8 accident that killed his passenger, a fellow musician, and seriously injured two people in another car. He served 20 days in jail and was assessed $2.6 million in damages.
1987 - Album “Girls, Girls, Girls” is No. 2 on the charts
1989 - Album “Dr. Feelgood” is No. 1 on the charts
1992 - The band fires Neil, who files a $5 million wrongful termination suit and goes solo.
1995 - Loses his 4-year-old daughter, Skylar, to kidney cancer.
1996 - Reunites with Motley Crue.
2003 - Stars on VH1’s “Surreal Life” with MC Hammer.
2005 - MC Hammer officiates Neil’s wedding to his fourth wife, Lia Gerardini. The two split in 2010.
2010 - Stars on ABC’s “Skating with the Stars”
2013 - Opens Vince Neil’s Tatuado, Eat, Drink, Party, a Las Vegas restaurant with three bars carved from his original tour bus.
2015 - Stars in an episode of ABC’s “Celebrity Wife Swap” trading his partner, Rain Hannah, with Gunnar Nelson’s wife. Viewers discover Neil’s dog has a pet psychiatrist.
2016 - Charged with misdemeanor battery in July after allegedly assaulting an autograph seeker in a Las Vegas Hotel. The April incident concluded with paparazzi capturing video of Neil grappling with actor Nicolas Cage outside the hotel.
2017 - To appear as a contestant on “The Celebrity Apprentice,” hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger after NBC severed ties with Donald Trump for derogatory comments he made about Mexicans and immigration.
(Sources include: Rolling Stone, LA Times, Las Vegas Weekly, People)
If You Go
What: Vince Neil When: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13 Where: Nez Perce County Fairgrounds Cost: $35 in advance, $45 at the gate, $50 VIP Tickets are available at Rosauers, Coleman Oil Dynamarts, Liberty Mart, Hells Canyon Harley- Davidson and Ticketswest.com. Neil takes the stage at 8 p.m.
