Vince Neil, the frontman of Mötley Crüe, said he suffered a stroke in his sleep on Christmas that temporarily paralyzed the left side of his body and forced him to relearn how to walk.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal published Friday, Neil said doctors warned he might not be able to return to the stage, but he insisted he would. "My whole left side went out," he said. "I had to learn to walk again, and that was tough." He added, "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, 64, said he spent months working in physical therapy at his Nashville home, where he lives with his longtime girlfriend, Rain Hannah Andreani. He described a gradual recovery that began with being carried to the bathroom, progressing to a wheelchair, then a walker, then a cane, and now walking without assistance. "It's like a full-time job getting back to where you feel good again," he said.
The singer said he trained with a local football coach who put him through agility drills, including ladder work, to retrain his coordination and regain running ability. "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," Neil said. He told the newspaper he has "learned how to run again" and is "90-, 95-percent to where I was before."
Mötley Crüe postponed the opening dates of their Las Vegas residency in March while Neil underwent a "medical procedure," a delay the band attributed at the time to his need to recover. Instead of performing March through April as originally planned, the residency began on Friday and is scheduled to run through Oct. 3.
Neil's stroke occurred nearly two months before Andreani was seriously injured when the couple's private jet lost control and struck a parked plane at Scottsdale Airport. Neil said Andreani broke six ribs and suffered a cracked vertebra, injuries he said still cause pain, but noted she has resumed riding horses.
Neil framed his recovery in terms of determination and rehabilitation rather than prognosis. He credited consistent work in physical therapy and targeted drills with helping him regain mobility and prepare to perform. Those efforts came after medical advice that his ability to return to the stage was uncertain.
Mötley Crüe's residency in Las Vegas represents a major run of shows for the band, and the group adjusted its schedule to accommodate Neil's recovery. Neil's account provides a timeline linking the Christmas stroke, weeks of therapy in Nashville, the March postponement announced by the band, and the eventual start of the residency in September.
The singer's comments to the Las Vegas Review-Journal follow a period of limited public detail about his health after the March announcement. Neil spoke candidly about the physical challenges he faced and emphasized his progress, saying the work to restore his mobility has paid off and that he expects to return to performing at near his previous level.
Neil's account underscores the role of rehabilitation and targeted physical training in recovering from a stroke and the ways such an event can affect an artist's touring schedule. The Las Vegas Review-Journal published the interview detailing his medical episode and recovery, and Mötley Crüe adjusted its residency dates earlier this year to allow Neil time to undergo treatment and therapy.