The whole world recognizes Vince Neil by his four-decade-long tenure with Mötley Crüe as the band’s lead singer despite his brief break-up from the band and his career as a solo musician. For every rock and roll enthusiastic, the band and Vince Neil cannot live without each other as they have tried and miserably failed before. However, this might have been a completely different story from the start if the musician hadn’t missed his second chance as well.
As many of you know, Vince Neil joined Mötley Crüe as the band’s vocalist in 1981 when the band was first founded. When Crüe was looking for a lead singer to fill the spot, it was drummer Tommy Lee who came up with the idea to call his high school friend who happened to be a singer. The band members were impressed by Neil after seeing him perform live and his image was perfect for the band as he managed to fill venues with female fans thanks to his charming aura.
With the band, it’s often told that Vince Neil is the least artistic and least involved in the creative process of all the band members. However, there isn’t one Mötley Crüe fan who could imagine the band without Neil after all these years. Nonetheless, this scenario could have happened differently if the singer had missed his second audition with the band many years ago. Let’s dive into the story of how Neil almost missed being a member of Crüe but ended up with them anyway.
Vince Neil Didn’t Show Up To His Audition With Mötley Crüe
When bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, and lead guitarist Mick Mars gathered to form the band, they only needed a lead singer to fulfill their dreams. After seeing Vince Neil’s perfect frontman qualities such as being a magnet for female fans, rocking the stage with his moves, and having a killer voice, all of them thought it was a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, the band was having trouble impressing the blonde singer to be their frontman since the vocalist was already a part of a band called Rockandi, also known as Rock Candy. While the trio tried to get Neil’s attention, he didn’t even bother to turn up to his first audition with Mötley Crüe.
Realizing that Vince Neil wasn’t interested in them, Crüe members started auditioning other musicians such as a vocalist named O’Dean, who left them unsatisfied. Apparently, the band made its decision to work with Neil and the only mission left was to convince him for another audition. Fortunately, Tommy Lee managed to persuade the singer for another shot and he agreed to turn up this time.
Lucky for their fans, Vince Neil’s audition went perfectly fine and Mötley Crüe members were over the moon that they had found the perfect face for the band. Although a lady friend accompanying him felt the band wasn’t a right fit for the singer, as depicted in the famous movie, ‘The Dirt,’ Neil ended up joining the band anyway. It’s fair to say the decision was a perfect one for his music career as well as for the band since they have had excellent harmony in their music for all these years.
