Chris Jericho has spoken out on his disappointment following Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil’s sub-par performance at an Iowa festival less than two months ago.
The comments come following fan footage of the 60-year-old’s disastrous solo performance at Boone Iowa River Valley Festival doing the rounds on social media, where Neil lost his voice several times throughout the set.
Midway into the performance – which featured Crüe hits and covers by the band – the rocker seemingly gave up as he began performing Mötley Crüe hit ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’, leaving bassist Dana Strum and guitarist Jeff ‘Blando’ Bland, and drummer Zoltan Chane playing along to pre-recorded backing vocals.
Vince Neil quits Iowa show, says his voice ‘is gone’. A few lines into ‘Girls Girls Girls,’ the @MotleyCrue singer apologizes and walks off stage at the Boone River Valley Festival. https://t.co/SAZ8ZGumLX pic.twitter.com/vJvlGUwfwi
— Adib Hidayat (@AdibHidayat) June 2, 2021
“Hey, guys… I’m sorry, you guys. It’s been a long time playin’. My fuckin’ voice is gone… Eh… We love you, and we’ll hopefully see you next time, man. Take care,” Neil told the crowd before making his exit.
Now, pro-wrestler Chris Jericho has given his two cents on the situation in a brand new interview with Loudwire Nights, saying Neil’s performance and lack of enthusiasm was “disappointing”.
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“It’s disappointing because I think everyone is pulling for Vince and they’re pulling for Mötley Crüe. And it’s gonna be tough doing ‘The Stadium Tour’ in 2022 because Joan Jett, I don’t know if you’ve seen her recently, she’s freakin’ awesome.
“And Bret Michaels — I was just talking about Poison the other day; they’re gonna steal the show. You’d better watch out for Poison, ’cause Bret Michaels is the best frontman out of all of those bands.
Jericho continued: “And then Def Leppard – they do what they do. And Mötley Crüe, they’re gonna have to really step it up.
“I’m disappointed to see Vince the way he is, because I think if he lost some weight and did some training and came out there and was in some semblance of shape, a) his voice will sound better just from that alone, and b) people would go, ‘Holy shit! Did you see Vince Neil? He looks great.’
“I think if he really wants to do it, he could do it,” Jericho added.
“But I don’t know if he does. And that’s the thing. And it’s up to him. And either way, it’s Mötley Crüe — people are gonna go, and they’re gonna love it.
“But to me, as a performer, I would take that as a challenge: ‘I’ve got one year. Let’s do this. It’s been long enough. Let’s do this for real.”
The Stadium Tour was originally scheduled to take place last year summer but was rescheduled to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can read more about this topic on the Metal Observer.
Check out Chris Jericho talking Vince Neil’s performance on Loudwire Nights:
