The car crash involving the Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil and the drummer of Hanoi Rocks, Razzle, was one of the most tragic incidents in the history of rock music. On December 8, 1984, Neil was driving his De Tomaso Pantera in Redondo Beach, California, with Razzle as his passenger. The singer, who was intoxicated at the time, lost control of the car and collided with another vehicle, killing Razzle and seriously injuring two other people in the other car.
The impact of the crash was devastating. Razzle died instantly, and Neil suffered multiple fractures and other injuries. The two occupants of the other car also suffered severe injuries, including brain damage and a broken neck. In the aftermath of the incident, Neil was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 5 years’ probation, 200 hours of community service, and a $2.6 million settlement to the victims’ families. The tragedy had a profound impact on Neil and the other members of Mötley Crüe. Besides Neil’s troubles, Nikki Sixx had also developed a serious heroin addiction at the time, which had started to get out of control.
After Vince completed the rehab process, the band began working on their third studio album, ‘Theatre of Pain.’ After the release of the record, Mötley Crüe embarked on a tour to support it. However, Neil had to abstain from drinking and using substances as a prerequisite for his pre-trial release from prison, which was a challenging task, especially while on the road.
In ‘The Dirt’ autobiography, Neil recounted how his bandmates would purposely expose him to marijuana smoke or request that he serve them a dish of cocaine during this period. So, it was like the vocalist was responsible for everything, while the remaining members were just innocent victims of his fault. They didn’t care much about Neil’s regret over causing Razzle’s death.
Sixx expressed conflicting feelings regarding the situation in ‘The Dirt.’ He believed the person in question deserved punishment for their actions, as being caught would lead to severe consequences during the trial. However, he also acknowledged his own hypocrisy in criticizing the person for drinking a beer while he had a bottle of Jack in his hands and a syringe in his boot.
The rocker went on to say that he, Tommy Lee, and Mick Mars had unintentionally created a division between themselves and Vince. They continued to engage in partying while simultaneously imposing sobriety on Neil. The division eventually became so significant that the singer was left isolated on a small piece of land, disconnected from the others.
The bassist’s words on how they behaved to Neil at the time:
“On one hand, he deserved it because if he was caught, the judge would crucify him at his trial. But on the other hand, there I was lecturing him about drinking a beer when I had a bottle of Jack in my hands and a syringe in my right boot.
Without realizing it, Tommy, Mick, and I drew a line and pushed Vince to the other side. And the longer we kept partying while enforcing sobriety on him, the thicker that line became until the earth beneath it cracked, and Vince was left alone on a small sliver of rock, separated from the rest of us by a chasm that all the pills, girls and therapists in the world couldn’t cross.”
Nikki Sixx acknowledged that he had done things that triggered Vince Neil at the time. So, rather than help him go through that process more easily, Sixx behaved sort of in a hypocritical way. The rest of the Mötley Crüe members were probably angry with Neil due to his past actions, but it was still disappointing for the singer not to see his bandmates’ support during that challenging process.
